


the cryptid zone

by scriptuurient



Category: The Adventure Zone (Podcast)
Genre: Angst, But Only a Little Bit - Freeform, Cryptozoology, Everyone Needs A Hug, Fluff, Found Family, I lied, Multi, Parallel Universes, Science Fiction & Fantasy, cryptid hunting au, did i say only a little bit of angst?, it gets pretty bad there for a while, some role reversal, there's a little bit of magic, they hop into an RV and go on adventures
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-08-24
Updated: 2018-02-01
Packaged: 2018-12-19 07:25:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 9
Words: 31,196
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11892861
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/scriptuurient/pseuds/scriptuurient
Summary: 'Forests have secrets,' he said gently. 'It's what they're for. To hide things. To separate one world from another.'---Catherine M. Valente, "Deathless"...Davenport wants to film a documentary about the strange creatures of Faerūn, and somehow ends up with an odd but adventurous crew to help him. Traversing across the world in a massive RV (named the Starblaster per the insistent yelling of a few party members), the IPRE cryptid hunters find themselves stumbling across a world that is far, far more magical than they had ever thought it could be.(or, alternatively, I started this as a short cryptid fic and now it's not. that. sorry)





	1. a sort of beginning

 

“You got a good shot of the entrance, Lup?”

There’s an incoherent yell of confirmation from further down the tunnel as Taako swivels his flashlight around. Magnus is behind him, EMF meter held in one hand while he has a recorder in the other. Taako, walking hesitantly backwards, flashes his light on and off at Magnus’s face until the bigger man finally looks up.

“Dude, what the fuck?”

“How’s it been, emailing your lover?” Taako curls his mouth into a smirk, moving his flashlight from the big guy’s face to study the curves of this tunnel’s walls. Magnus makes a choking sound that sounds like a very high-pitched creature dying.

“Dav’s gonna be pissed if we fill up the tape with us talking about my… dating life.”

Taako just shrugs, and they turn the corner to find Lup fidgeting with the lens of her camera, glasses pushed up into her wild mane of hair as she sneers at the camera. “I didn’t break this camera, but I just might.”

Taako looked at the cracked lens over his sister’s shoulder, snorting under his breath. “Looks broken to me. Is it still capturing anything?”

“Nope.” Lup growls softly and lowers the camera so that it dangles from her neck, moving to pull her phone out of her back pocket. “I hate this job.”

“No you don’t,” Magnus says cheerfully. “Now let’s get this show on the road.”

Lup hands her phone to Taako and steps up beside Magnus, fixing her hair and sliding her glasses back down onto her nose. Taako glares boredly at the two of them for a second before starting the recording, the ugly light of the phone’s flash making Lup’s features look striking.

“We’ve been trying to go into these caves for two days,” Lup starts, adjusting her glasses in a way that looks classy. “There’s a point that we reach where our devices have, previously, stopped working. Today, though, seems to be an exception and we’re defo taking advantage of it.”

“You mean definitely.” 

Lup glares up at Magnus. “Defo.” And then she turns back to the camera. “Davenport, our wonderful leader,  _ insists _ there’s something worth seeing in the caves. There have been many… arachnophobic claims of there being a spider-like creature hidin' in there.”

“An arachnotaur, if the claims are correct,” Magnus interjects. “They say the creature appears first as a human, until upon further inspection they see what looks like the massive body of a spider. Which, I’m just putting this out there, is really fucking terrifying, and I hate both of the twins for dragging me along on this adventure.”

“Aww, that’s cute.” Lup reaches up and pats his cheek, before turning back to her brother and the camera. “Let’s get this show on the road, yeah?”

… 

It started in the middle of autumn, in the IPRE library. Davenport and Merle were at one of the long tables, dozens of books splayed between them. While Davenport was trying to get actual work done, Merle seemed more comfortable with napping on top of important documents.

Davenport shoved his friend’s head off of a copy of the newspaper, pulling it toward him and flipping to somewhere in the middle, as he was known to do. Lucretia chose that moment to walk around the corner, which made her privy to the look of bewilderment that crossed his jovial face, soon followed by a lightbulb that went off behind his eyes.

“Merle. Merle get-- get  _ up _ .” Davenport shoved Merle’s head until he finally shot up, groggily rubbing at his eyes. Lucretia had stepped closer, curious and-- well honestly, she was kind of bored. There was rarely anything to do at that time of night. 

“What the hell, Dav?” Merle grumbled, but he seemed to recognize the excitement on Davenport’s face because he kept his voice only mildly irritated. He looked up and waved Lucretia over so they could both indulge in whatever idea has gotten into Davenport’s head.

And the idea was this: “I want to make a documentary.”

“About?” Lucretia set down her stack of books, sitting beside Merle.

Davenport pointed to an article in the newspaper, next to a blurred picture of what  _ looked _ like a man but was evidently not. Or at least, the creature was part man, part  _ other _ . And the look in Davenport’s eyes at the idea of that otherness is what solidified Lucretia’s decision to help.

... 

“Why is naming a documentary so hard?” Davenport put his head in his hands as Lucretia walked up with too cappuccinos in hand. “I want it to sound good, but  _ nothing  _ sounds good enough.”

“That’s because you’ve been working so hard for so long.” Lucretia set one of the cappuccino’s down in front of him. “Didn’t you say one of your students should be arriving soon? I didn’t know what he wanted to drink but--”

“Green tea is fine!” Lucretia turns at the voice to see a clumsy man weave through the tables, steaming cup in hand. He’s got a nice face with a hesitant smile, big glasses crooked on his face, and a stack of files tucked underneath his arm. “Sorry I’m late, uh, traffic was a nightmare.”

“Don’t worry about it,” Lucretia said warmly. “I’m Lucretia, I’ll be the one working more behind the scenes.”

He set down his mug and put the files down in front of Davenport, extending a hand to Lucretia. “Barry Bluejeans. I’ll be doing documentation and collecting evidence.”

Lucretia took his hand graciously, her mouth turning up into an amused smile. “Uh, Bluejeans?”

“It’s not my real last name, but it’s a lot easier to remember and pronounce.” He laughed and sat down beside Davenport, who was pouring over his recently acquired files. “Those are some sightings I thought were interesting, all over Faerūn.”

“These are… really out there, Barry. What makes you think they’re all up to par?”

“Well, the reports are phenomenal. Plus, that red-robed phantom mentioned uhh… right here, this one?” Barry looked to both of them with excitement in his hazel eyes. “I’ve seen them myself.”

“Seriously?” Lucretia leaned forward slightly, gripping her mug with both hands. “Where? What was it like?”

“Everywhere, and super weird.” He took a cautious sip of his tea. “I went camping a lot about a year ago, and I saw them in all sorts of places. They seemed to set a lot of fires, or at least be around fires enough for it to not be a coincidence. It was surreal to say the least.”

“Think we can find them for the documentary?” Davenport asked, finally touching his cappuccino and taking a long sip that left a line of foam on his mustache. “Can you explain more about this spectral figure?”

“There’s not much to explain, they were just… there.”

Davenport hummed at that before nodding. “I like that these, uh, these cryptids are all over Faerūn, but how am I supposed to get there with just a tiny car?”

“Oh!” Lucretia fumbled to pull her phone out of her pocket. “Oh, this is excellent. I have a friend, Magnus, he’s got this huge RV that he never uses! I think if we invite him to tag along, he’ll let us use it.”

“Is he… will he be an asshole?” Barry frowned nervously. “Only assholes ever have massive RVs.”

“Oh, he’s a bit dense sometimes, but he’s a sweetheart, I promise.” Lucretia typed out a quick text before setting her phone on the table. “Now, about documentary names.”

“What about…” Barry tapped a pen against his chin. “‘Here There Be Cryptids’?”

Davenport snorted. “That just might wo--”

“Pfft,  _ laaaame _ .” There was a laugh, and then someone was leaning over Barry’s shoulder, wild curls brushing his face.”Taako, whaddya think?”

Another person showed up, settling himself across the chair beside Lucretia. He had long hair as well, but rather than being curly it was all slicked back into a long braid that roped around his shoulder. The girl has on a worn but fashionable red leather jacket, one gloved hand braced on the table while the other held onto the back of Barry’s chair. The boy had on a glittery silver crop top and high-waisted shorts, long legs covered in intricate geometric and abstract tattoos.

They were a beautiful pair, though while the girl was smiling, the boy-- Taako?-- looked more bored than anything as he studied his nails. “I think they could do better. ‘Here There Be Cryptids’ makes it sound so silly. Plus, there’s no aesthetic to it.”

“And you defo need an aesthetic name.” The girl rolled her eyes at this, leaning more in Lucretia’s direction. “My name’s Lup. That’s my dummy brother, Taako, and we heard rumors of a cryptid hunting club.”

“That makes it sound like a joke,” Davenport mumbled, and Taako snorted indignantly.

“Not hard to do, pal. But Lup was wondering if she-- if  _ we _ could tag along.” Taako pulled out the chair he had been leaning on, plopping down beside a perplexed Lucretia. “College has been fine and dandy, but we’re set to graduate and going on an adventure sounds more interesting that working as a waiter until the end of my days, my dude.”

“And  _ I  _ heard about moth-angels up near Neverwinter, so I’d like to get in on that.” Lup sat down beside Barry, who was looking at her like she had thorns growing from her face-- a weird mix of curiosity and bewilderment. She tossed her hair over one shoulder and gave everyone a brilliant grin. “I did my four years of college, and I kinda… crushed it, so I’m up for gettin’ out of here.”

Davenport sat up in his chair, eyebrows drawing together in confusion. “You attend the IPRE?”

“Oh, hell yeah! We both do.” She gestured between herself and her brother. “He double majored in chemistry and the culinary arts, and I’ve got my Masters in Being Rad.” Lup did finger guns at that, throwing a wink to Lucretia. Lucretia blinked several times before adjusting her glasses and turning to Davenport.

“Magnus said we could use his RV, and it… it would be big enough. And I mean, the more hands to help, right?”

Davenport seemed skeptic, but as he looked around at the assortment of people willing to follow him on this absurd adventure, he saw something that was… familiar in it’s intensity. A sort of unspeakable loyalty that made him nod slowly.

“Yeah… yeah, okay.”

“What about ‘The Cryptid Zone’?” Taako said, looking up with one brow arched. He had dramatic and flawless eyeliner that made his frosty blue-green eyes pop against his dark skin. “It’s simple but it sounds nice.”

“I like it,” Barry said, finally jumping into conversation, and Lup smirked.

“What’s your name, kid?”

“I, uh, I’m pretty sure we’re the same age, but I’m-- I’m Barry.” Barry nodded once, glancing between the twins. “I think I had one of you in my Speech class last semester.”

“Oh, that would be me.” Taako winked before turning to Lucretia. “You’re the librarian, right? I think you yelled at me for falling asleep in the romance section.”

“If I did, you certainly weren’t the only person to do that.”

Everyone chuckled a bit, and something in that moment tied all of them together: call it fate, or a soul connection, or whatever you would want. But  _ something _ chained them together, like they were puzzle pieces that completed a surreal and beautiful picture. 

... 

“Could you maybe uhhhh  _ not _ almost push me to my death?” Taako snapped, taking a shaky breath as he stepped away from the ledge looking down into a dark chasm. Magnus held up his hands in surrender, face apologetic as he followed behind Lup around the curve of the cavern. Then Lup suddenly stopped and Taako again had to catch himself by grabbing onto Magnus’s backpack with a sharp yelp.

“Did you guys hear that?”

“What, the sound of my heart climbing out of my mouth and throwing itself into the chasm?” Taako hissed, causing Magnus to snicker nervously. But Lup just shook her head, passing the phone back to Taako as she took a slow step forward.

“Magnus give me that recorder…”

Magnus hands it to Lup and she holds it out in front of her, keeping her footsteps light as she approaches what looks like an opening into another cavernous room. The EMF reader had completely fucked up on them earlier, but now it’s lighting up like crazy in Magnus’s back pocket and making Taako’s stomach twist into knots.

“Guys, hate to be the voice of fear, but is this really worth it? The EMF has never reacted like--” Lup thrusts a hand backwards in his direction to shush him and he immediately throws up a middle finger in view of the camera. 

“I think… I see something?” Lup cocks her head to the side, and before either of the others can say anything she’s running into the cavern, leaving them behind as she chases whatever it is that she saw. Magnus spins to give Taako a bewildered look but then he’s sprinting after her as well, leaving Taako to grumble uselessly under his breath as he quickly follows suit.

... 

When they try to talk about the whole, insane story, they’re going to say it started in the forest, with the arch between the trees and the moth-angels. But really  _ this _ was the moment that changed the path of their story, the split second decision that lead our heroes into a downward spiral of absurdities and oddities and love, of all things. 

And someone will ask them, “If you could go back would you change a thing?” And they’ll look at each other, and think about all of the horrors they saw, the things that broke them into pieces and built them into their new selves.

And they’ll say: “No. We’d do it all over again.”


	2. the spider's lament

Lucretia looks up from her laptop as Davenport steps into the RV, tucking strands of her white curls behind one ear. He’s carrying a plate of hot dogs in one hand and a phone in the other, not even paying attention to the ground in front of him as he reads an article intensely. Lucretia immediately lunges away from the breakfast table, taking the plate from him before it can topple out of his hand.

Davenport finally looks up from his phone with a small grin. “Sorry, sorry. I was reading up on the Arachnotaur. Did you know that someone claims his cousin was eaten by this thing?”

“Really?” Lucretia moves to set the plate down on the counter, turning back to brace herself against it as she faced her old friend. “I thought most claims said the Arachnotaur was mostly gentle? How factual do you think  _ that _ claim is?”

Merle chooses that moment to walk from the bunks, scratching his butt with a groggy look in his eyes. “Let’s just pray to God those three idiots don’t die.”

Lucretia shoots him a panicked look. “Don’t jinx it!”

He throws his hands up as he throws himself into the booth seat at the table. “I’m just sayin’, if this thing eats people, we kind of did send the biggest trio of dummies in there.”

Lucretia ducks her head, rubbing her forehead. “I swear to god, Dav, if this gets them killed--”

“It won’t.” He pockets his phone, swiping a hot dog and moving to the fridge for the condiments. “They may be dummies in general, but they’re smart when it comes to the important things. Like surviving.”

… 

 

If Lup  _ could _ go back, she would definitely change this moment: being tied up by webs and pinned to a cave wall, blood dripping from a cut on her forehead into her eye. She had enough room in the webbing to move around some, but the plan she had formulating in her mind needed to be saved for just the right moment… 

Magnus and Taako are on opposite sides from her, both of them slowly coming to as they look around at the cavern that they’re in. It’s a wide oval of a room with another chasm in the center, and Lup can barely see past that chasm to the other side. She can hear the skittering though, that ghostly noise that she picked up on in the previous cave room.

“Hey, spider-fucker!” Lup yells into the cave, wincing at the echo of her words. “What the hell?”

“I’m going to kill you,” Magnus grumbles, knocking his head back against the wall of the cave. “I am going to--- oh  _ shit _ !”

Lup’s head swivels forward to see what Magnus is seeing, and though she’s been cryptid hunting with Davenport and the rest of the IPRE crew, she still can’t comprehend of what she’s seeing. It  _ looks  _ like a man, with grayish skin and long white hair, but where a normal set of eyes should be he has eight bulbous, glinting eyes. He’s holding Lup’s flashlight up to his face like he’s inspecting, flashing it into his eyes every few seconds like an idiot. 

Finally he looks up and sees that they’re awake, and a fanged grin splits across his face “Hëllō helłœ!”

“Oh god,” Lup groans, at the same time she can practically feel the vicious smile spreading across her twin brother’s face at the sound of this Arachnotaur’s hideous accent.

“So good to finally hear someone else with a killer accent,” Taako says in his own, very obnoxious accent. He taught it to himself in one of their foster homes, mostly just to amuse the smaller children and piss off the adults. And boy howdy, did it work!

The Arachnotaur pockets the flashlight, still lit, in his weird black and silver tunic that falls over his abdomen. And not abdomen as in a human’s stomach, but abdomen as in the giant body of a spider. Magnus whimpers, but it’s drowned out by the Arachnotaur’s delighted laugh.

“Really, you’re so kind! Oh, if you hadn’t been breaking into my cave we could have made much nicer introductions.”

“You could at least tell us your name, my pal,” Taako says dryly, accent dropped and face bored once again. “I mean, you do have us all tied up like this, so…”

“Yes, of course!” The Arachnotaur throws his hands out into the air, grinning sharply. “I’m Brian!”

Even Magnus can’t hold back a snort of laughter. “B-- You’re name is Brian?”

“I am ze Black Spider.” He brings his hands together in a welcoming gesture and Lup raises a brow. “But you are welcome to call me Brian!”

“Cool, cool. So, Brian--” Lup lunges forward as much as she can in the webs, eyes narrowed. “How about you let us down before this gets ugly?”

“See--” Brian skitters forward some and Lup pushes herself back against the wall as he comes really close. “I can’t do that anymore. Cause now you pretty fellows have seen me, and that’s just no good.”

“It’s for a documentary,” Magnus interjects, cringing when Brian turned to face him. “We, uh, we’re making a documentary about paranormal creatures across Faerūn, and you… happen to be one of those creatures.”

“You’re a cryptid, dude,” Taako adds, eyes closed as he settles into the webs. “If you’re gonna eat us, can I take a nap first?”

“Taako!” Lup hisses, but then Brian is laughing and it’s a pleasantly obnoxious sound as he turns away from Lup. She takes that as her chance and wiggles around in the webbing until she can pull the pocket blow torch out of her pocket, finding the edge where the web meets the wall. Dumb spider for turning his back on  _ her _ . She glances to Magnus and he seems to already know what she’s about to do because he has this look of brilliance in his eyes. 

If she can get to him next he’s got that flash of whiskey… That should be interesting. Lup fumbles around to find the pressure button of the blow torch, and the moment she feels the heat lick uncomfortably at her hand a smile creeps across her face.

A big enough hole burns into the webbing and Lup drops to her feet almost silently and Brian is going off on this tangent about loneliness and such as Lup slinks toward Magnus and burns him out of his webbing. Taako is just chilling with his eyes rolled to the ceiling of the cave, mumbling something incoherent that even Brian is drowning out. Lup feels a bit bad for the big guy, but honestly? She’s got webs in her hair and she really hates being tied up. There was this one big bear-like dude who tied her up before offering all of them tea, and that wasn’t a fun experience.

Magnus is less light getting to his feet, but he’s quick to hand Lup the flask of whiskey and she splashes it all onto the ground between them and Brian, creating a line as she moves to get to her brother. Brian turns around, hair wispy around his face as he scuttles back in their direction.

“Va--Vat are you--”

Taako leaps down and swipes the blowtorch from Lup with one hand on his hip. “Sorry, Spiderman, but I’m tired and we’ve already got enough audio and snaps to make a montage with, so--” Taako points the blow torch at the ground and the alcohol immediately blazes to life, creating a mesmerizing wall of flickering red and orange as the three cryptid hunters immediately turn tail and run.

…

 

Barry is sitting in a lawn chair outside of the RV when the three ‘adventurers’ come barreling out of the forest, covered in spider webs and dirt and looking, for all intents and purposes, very fucking pleased with themselves.

Magnus is the first to collapse by the burnt out fire, sides heaving with each uneven breath as he tries to remove as much of the sticky webs from his body as he can. Taako heads for the RV instead, looking like he hasn’t slept in years even though everyone knows that he’s still not about to sleep. He’s probably going inside to stress-cook, but Barry isn’t complaining-- somehow Taako can make even mac and cheese taste divine.

Lup pulls her messy hair up into a bun as she plops into the lawn chair beside Barry with a breathless laugh. “Well that was something.”

Barry shifts in the lawnchair to face her, propping his chin in one hand. “How so?”

She launches into a long, dramatic tale that might be a bit embellished, but the gist of it still stands: they met the Arachnotaur, he has a hideous but entertaining accent, and they may have set his cave on fire in their escape.

“Do you think he’s still alive?” Barry sits up straighter, frowning. “You know Dav won’t want to know that a crpytid got hurt while--”

“Oh, don’t be such a stick in the mud, Barry!” Lup punches his arm with another weightless laugh, and Barry notices the scorch marks across the shoulder of her red leather jacket. “I’m sure he’s still alive. You should be more worried about _ my _ health and well being because we could’ve, oh, y’know,  _ died _ or something.”

Barry feels his heart do a weird little jump in his chest. “You know I always worry about your health and well being, Lup.” Lup’s head snaps up as she looks at him, but he immediately breaks eye contact in favor of kick dirt at the cold fire. “Wonder if he would’ve tried to lay eggs in you.”

There’s a slight pause, but then Lup is laughing again and this time it devolves into an adorable snort as she tilts her head up to the sky. “I can’t even imagine it. That guy-- uh, spider guy, he seemed kind of nice.”

“Then why’d you leave so violently?”

“Honestly?” Lup shrugs one shoulder as he looks over at her. “Magnus was hella uncomfortable with the whole spider thing to begin with, I didn’t want to prolong it. And I think Taako felt the same way. Had to get the big guy out of there.”

“And I thank you for that,” Magnus replies, making both Barry and Lup jump as they simultaneously remember that he’s there. Barry’s entire face goes red, then, and he gets to his feet. 

“I’ll, uh, take the whatever y’all got to Davenport and Lucretia, see what they can do with it.” 

“You sure?” Lup tilts her head, a crease forming between her eyebrows. “I’m suuuper tired and wouldn’t mind a quick chat before work becomes a thing I have to do.”

Barry’s almost tempted to give in and sit with them, but instead he just ducks his head and holds out his hand. “I kind of need to work on finding where our next creature is. I’ve got a vague idea of who I want to try and find next, but it’s mostly up to Dav.”

Magnus hands him the audio recorder and Lup hands over her phone, this weird look in her eyes that Barry can’t quite place. “Well, we’ll be here if you wanna hang.”

“Right. Yeah.” Before he can make an even bigger fool of himself, Barry turns and hurries into the RV, immediately depositing the phone and recorder by an immersed Davenport who is listening to old jazz music loud enough Barry can hear it through the earphones. Barry sits opposite him with a sigh, pulling his own laptop toward him. His unpublished article is open and glaring at him, alongside the one blurry picture he was ever able to get of the strange red-robed spectre.

They’re standing between two trees, head turned in his direction and until he can see their flicker orange-white eyes. There was no spontaneous fire this time, so it’s hard to see them entirely, but Barry can feel a smile in this picture, however strange and manic it might have been.

The article makes no sense and mostly sounds fictional, as Barry recounts his various trips around Phandalin and the seven times that he ran into the red-robe. Because the red-robe is so volatile in terms of tracking Davenport has said it would be hard to put enough substantial information into the documentary, so he gave Barry the option to write some articles for the “Cryptid Zone” blog. 

They seem to be well-received, especially by a user called ‘kidDetective’ who always leaves comments of encouragement. This user seems especially fond of the sarcastic articles written by Taako, and the articles that have nothing to do with cryptids and are entirely about dogs Magnus has seen on his travels. His comments are more sparse on Barry’s red-robe articles, but still there. 

“I’m sure you’re getting close, sir!” or “Just keep you chin up, sir!”

It’s that polite confidence in him that keeps Barry Bluejeans going.

… 

 

When a person dies, he or she rarely ever writes their own obituary, and when they do there’s every chance that it is self-centered and obnoxious and terrible. But when Barry Bluejeans writes his obituary, he doesn’t talk about himself. No, instead he finds himself writing about a person in a red robe, and a love that will outlast time itself. And when he dies, with an otherworldly finality, the last words on his lips are not a goodbye to the world, but a promise.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I would just like to apologize if the characters seem a bit ooc. I'm still trying to get their personalities right, but there are a few quirks to making magical characters humans in a modern world. I'm getting there, though.


	3. a wrong turn

Lucretia holds onto the top of her laptop, eyes widening as the RV goes too fast around a curve in the highway. “Magnus! I understand you’re excited, but I would really like to not die in this RV!”

“Sorry!” Magnus calls back from the driver’s seat, waving one hand in apology. “I’ll try to keep ‘er steadier.” And then he goes fast around a curve again and Merle laughs. The twins are curled up on the couch with Barry, all three of them immersed in some movie that they’re trying to pay attention to. Every so often the rambunctious movement of the RV will jostle them together and all three of them will shoot glares in the direction of the front of the RV.

Davenport, sitting in the passenger seat, shakes his head. “Magnus, pull over, we’re switching places.”

“Aw, c’mon, we’re almost there!”

“Yes, and we’re going to die  _ before _ we get there.” Davenport stands as Magnus reluctantly pulls onto the side of the highway, and he shuffles past Davenport so that they can switch places. Davenport, though by no means a weak man, is much shorter than Magnus, who stands at a broad-shouldered six feet. They both share striking facial hair, though, Magnus with his thick sideburns and Davenport with his manicured coppery moustache. 

When the two of them first met Lucretia was sure that Magnus was going to crush Davenport in one of his giant bear hugs, but Davenport seemed actually prepared for the hug, and from that moment of their first meeting they seemed fond of each other in a familial way. Still, not even Davenport’s fondness would make him comfortable with the way Magnus drives.

Lucretia would try to be on his side, but she was once with him when he drove a motorcycle and that was an experience she would like to not live through again.

Back on the road again, Lucretia saves her progress on editing together a montage of Brian the Arachnotaur and switches to a Word document instead, one that she’s been working on since the beginning of this adventure.

Having a photographic memory, most of the time, is annoying and intrusive, but when it comes to telling the story of the IPRE crew and their journey across Faerūn, it’s almost exciting. Lucretia enjoys recounting their antics-- like Davenport’s conversation with a strange creature known as a Nightcrawler-- and those soft midnight moments where they sit around a campfire and drink coffee and bicker like they’ve known each other their entire lives. She writes about Taako’s reluctant but genuine friendship with Magnus, and Merle’s slow acceptance of cryptids. She’s filled pages detailing the tenuous relationship between Barry and Lup, a flirtation that anyone with a working set of eyes would see no matter how hard they try to hide it.

It’s a strange book, the story of the IPRE crew, but hopefully when the documentary is done and they want to go their separate ways, her novel will be a pleasant reminder for them to look back on. And maybe it would show all of her old friends at the library that she really is capable of writing a badass adventure.

Typing out the details of the past few days, Lucretia is so wrapped up in her writing that she barely even registers Lup sliding into the seat beside her. “Whatcha workin’ on boss lady?”

Lucretia jumps, startled, and puts one hand over the screen as she goes to save the document. Lup laughs at her side but makes no move to try and read anything. When Lucretia turns to her she’s got a coy smile on her mouth and a pudding cup in hand. 

“It’s not nice to sneak up on people.”

“And it’s not nice to be so secretive,” Lup fires back, licking chocolate pudding from her spoon decisively. Lucretia laughs at that, settling back into the booth seat. 

“Like you’re not the most secretive person in this whole RV, Lup. You and your brother are a mystery novel in yourselves.”

“And that’s what makes us so interesting!” Lup shrugs one shoulder with a smirk before offering her pudding cup and spoon to Lucretia. “I promise I don’t have any sort of sickness, but if you want I’ll reluctantly get up and get you your own.”

Lucretia takes the pudding offered to her with a soft smile, and they share the rest of the pudding cup as Lup recounts this one time in high school that she smuggled an entire year’s supply of pudding into school one day and sold it off to a bunch of other students. She then used that money to buy pizza, which she  _ also _ sold at school. The entire story was told in hilarious detail, making Lucretia laugh with almost every word.

That is, until the RV lurches suddenly, curving off of the highway and onto a rough dirt road that leads into a dark forest. Barry pauses the movie that was playing and Merle looks up from his book, all of them looking forward as Davenport tries to regain stability.

“The wheel, it-- I can’t turn it--!” Davenport jerks the steering wheel hard to the left as they approach a tree and the RV tilts with the force of turning sharply, falling back onto it’s wheels hard enough to make a few things in the cabinets and fridge rumble. Taako grips one arm of the couch and leans over the back to look out of the window behind him.

“Davenport, where are we?”

“I-I don’t know…” Davenport pulls his phone out of his pocket and glares down at the map. “It says we’re… just outside of Goldcliff, but this doesn’t look familiar.”

“I think that tree looks-- no, nope, that’s a different tree.” Magnus nods his head once, shifting in the passenger seat. “Davenport, we need to find a place to turn around.”

“Yeah, I know I’m--” The wheel jerks again and the entire RV goes barrelling down a hill, various books and equipment crashing to the ground. Barry lunges for the cabinets with most of the cameras in it, barely keeping his balance as he tries to keep all of them from falling. Lucretia and Lup grab all of the laptops and hold them close as Merle braces himself on the table and glares toward the front of the RV.

“What the hell, Dav!?”

“I don’t know!” Davenport yells back, and Magnus brace himself against both seats as he gets to his feet. Lucretia can no longer see through the windshield anymore, but she get’s the gist of the situation when she hears the low “oh, shit” that Magnus mumbles under his breath, and she sees the panic in his eyes when he turns around.

“Find something to protect yourselves before--”

The front of the RV slams hard into something and Magnus is thrown across the floor and time stops, in that moment. Lucretia and Lup and both ducked low in the booth, laptops held between them. Taako is on the floor in front of the couch, hands over his head while Barry is crouched in front of the camera cabinet. Merle is still in the booth and lunging toward the front, a yell of warning on his lips.

Davenport is in the front seat, the first to feel the impact.

This should be the end of the IPRE crew. They should meet their ends here, in this moment, but there are bigger plans in motion that keep them from dying. Time stops and rewinds and unfurls like a spool of thread, a white hot sense of determination filling all of them as the RV crashes into and then passes  _ through _ what seems like a massive stone structure. 

And then time is in the present again, and the RV is… fine. It’s perfectly fine, as everyone comes to their senses in unison and slowly looks around. No one can pinpoint any moment where things changed drastically from falling apart to being okay again: one moment they were all very sure they were going to die, and now it’s like nothing happened. Except…

“Hachi machi,” Taako mumbles from the couch, hanging over the edge as he looks through the window. “We’re not in Kansas anymore, folks.”

“We never were in-- what the shit?” Lup cuts herself off as she gets up from the table, passing off the laptops to Lucretia as she heads toward the front of the RV. “Where  _ are _ we?”

“I have… no idea.” Davenport says from the driver’s seat, still gripping the steering wheel.

Eventually everyone moves toward the front of the RV, and Lucretia feels her face fall slack with awe. It  _ looks  _ like a forest, except instead of the inky darkness of night that it should have been there is instead a warm orange light to the world around them. The trees and grass and plants all seem brighter than they should be, the world just seems to glitter with an air of… magic.

Davenport is the first one to barrel out of his seat and toward the door of the RV, but everyone else follows suit as they fall out of the RV and into the world outside.

And it’s strange, surreal in it’s very existence. This is  _ not _ the world they were just in-- no, this world is very, very different. Barry kneels to the ground and touches the grass, a sound of awe escaping through his lips.

“This grass is soft!”

“That’s weird,” Lup says, but beside her Taako drops to the ground and stretches out in the grass with a satisfied smile on his face. Magnus and Merle both collapse to the ground as well, making Lucretia sigh as she walks around the RV to study the world around them.

“This doesn’t make sense,” she finds herself saying, stooping down to study a patch of too-bright orange flowers. “Are we entirely sure this isn’t heaven or something?”

“If it is I’m good with that.” Taako groans as he stretches and Lup nudges her side with her boot as she moves to wander in the direction opposite Lucretia. Davenport is standing in the center of the four guys, staring down at his phone with frustration.

“There’s service.”

Lucretia turns to him and frowns. “So, not heaven?”

“No… I think, uh-- this is gonna sound crazy, but I think this might be a parallel universe?” Everyone turns to give Davenport confused looks and he throws his hands in there. “If someone else wants to throw out a better explanation, feel free, but it’s not hard to put some puzzle pieces together here.”

Merle groans, rolling to his feet. “I don’t want to agree, but heaven also seems like a stretch."

Taako speaks up next, pushing himself up into a sitting position as he runs his hands through his long hair. “Lup didn’t you write a paper on the theory of parallel universes?”

Lup shoots her brother a betrayed look before nodding slowly. “Yeah, but I’m pretty sure most theories never mentioned crashing into a brick wall and undying, or… whatever that was. It felt fuckin’ weird, though. Did you guys feel that, like, burning sensation?”

Everyone nods a little hesitantly and Lucretia is about to open her mouth to say something when she hears what sounds like the roar of an engine somewhere in the distance and she turns to follow the sound.

“Did you hear that?”

“Sounded like a motorcycle,” Taako said slowly, getting to his feet and moving in Lucretia’s direction. “Two of them.”

“Do we… follow them?” Magnus asks, rubbing a hand through his hair as he looks around. “I mean, we have no idea where we are, or how to… get back. Maybe the people on the motorcycles could help us?”

“Or they’re parallel universe serial killers,” Barry mumbles, adjusting his glasses. Lup, standing beside him, snorts under her breath, pulling her hair up into a ponytail.

“I say we follow them,” she says, hands moving to her hips in a powerful stance. “Maybe some footage of an actual parallel universe could do our documentary some good. After all, this seems like the ultimate cryptid of all.”

Davenport looks like he wants to argue against it, but the need for answers demands too much of him, and so he finally nods, gesturing back to the RV. “Let’s do this.”

They barely make it a few steps toward the door of the RV before they hear the sound of those motorcycle engines again, and then two motorcycles are crashing through the trees and skidding to a stop surrounding the IPRE crew. One is a taller figure dressed all in black, wearing a helmet that curves into a sharp beak in the front. The other figure has more of an earthen tone to their outfit, ram’s horns curling out from the helmet.

“What…” the taller figure says, almost silently, and then the shorter figure is yanking off their helmet and turning to face them. Lucretia takes a step back then, feeling her eyes widen. Instead of normal skin, this girl looks like she’s made of tree bark and cherry blossoms, with a short pink bob around her pleasantly smiling face. The taller figure removes her helmet and her long pink hair falls around her shoulders as she frowns, another tree bark girl.

“Holy shit,” Lup and Magnus say in unison, as Taako immediately doubles over and begins to laugh. The two-- for lack of a better word- dryads look at each other, a silent conversation, before turning to Lucretia and her friends. 

“Who are you?” The taller girl says, voice low and solemn. “What are you doing near Goldcliff?”

“So we  _ are _ outside of Goldcliff,” Davenport muses as Lucretia steps forward.

“We’re, um… investigative journalists. We were actually on our way to Goldcliff when-- well, it’s hard to explain. We hit a wall?”

Another shared look between the dryads, and this time the shorter one speaks up. “I think you should come with us.”

“Uh, why should we trust some tree chicks on motorcycles?” Taako asks, crossing his arms to stand tall beside his sister and Magnus. Merle goes to stand with Davenport and they have a silent conversation that looks more like Merle asking if he’s drunk. Lucretia and Barry are a little separate from everyone else, and they make eye contact as the short dryad snickers.

“You’re welcome to stay here by yourself, but don't hold us accountable for whatever happens to you.”

The taller dryad shakes her head and puts her helmet back on, revving the engine of her motorcycle as she turns and drives back into the forest. The shorter one hesitates, though, before offering everyone a grin.

“The name’s Hurley, and that was Sloane. I promise we’re not out to hurt you guys, but if you really did come through a wall then you probably want a few answers. We know someone who could give you those.” And then she puts her own helmet on, voice muffled as she talks through it. “Just follow our tracks if you choose to.”

And she’s gone.

… 

 

When the IPRE crew tells the story of this adventure, when people read the words Lucretia wrote into her novel with such loving eloquence, there won’t be a moment of hesitation. Instead, there will be a look shared between all seven of them, a pulse of a minute where each heart beats with the want for adventure, and then there will be those seconds as they all hurry to climb into the RV, Davenport already at the steering wheel and everyone braced near the front as they follow Hurley and Sloane into this strange and lovely otherworld.

And for the rest of their adventure, hesitation was an emotion rarely felt, as they all barrelled headfirst into what can only be called their inevitable fate.


	4. magic for dummies

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> and thus, this fic goes from cryptid hunting to cryptid BOUNTY hunting and honestly? I hope y'all like it.

The last time Merle was offered tea, it was by a giant bear-man named Klarg, and it was an odd experience. Now Merle and the rest of the IPRE crew are sitting in the police office of Goldcliff, each with their own respective mug of steaming chamomile tea as the two motorcycle dryads sit next to each other on top of a desk, watching them.

Lucretia is the first to break the silence, lowering her mug and running a finger along the rim once, twice, three times. “I’m assuming you know of the wall we passed through that brought us here?”

Sloane nods, tugging on a strand of her long pink hair. “It was the Wall of Istus. It separates your world from ours… to an extent.”

“What’s that mean?” Lup asks, and Hurley hops down from the desk to walk over to a white board. This police office looks oddly modern, kind of like the set of Brooklyn Nine-Nine with more earthen tones to it. Hurley wheels the white board over to the desk and picks up one of the markers, taking off the cap with a decisive pop. She draws a thick pink line vertically down the board, then draws an infinity sign through it. Lup’s face curls into an expression of genuine confusion as Davenport leans forward.

Merle’s known Davenport for almost twenty years now. They met in their senior year at the IPRE, one of them an avid journalism major and the other a frat boy with no sense of direction. Merle was majoring in theology at the time, per the insistence of his family, but it was always a sore spot with him. Davenport was the one who made him feel just a little bit more whole, and in turn Merle always offered assistance on Davenport’s excursions.

It’s that loyalty that’s landed him here in a room with two creatures who  _ shouldn’t _ exist, watching his best friend look… excited. More excited than he has in months. He’s gradually gotten more disheartened throughout this adventure, but maybe this absurd turn of events will be enough to bring the fire back into his eyes.

Hurley taps the marker against the board. “This is a rough explanation of how the Wall of Istus works. See, where we are now is a mirror of the world that you’re from, but we’re more… magical, in a sense.”

“If you couldn’t tell,” Sloane interjects, and Hurley offers her a soft smile.

“Yeah. So, what the infinity means is that the Wall is permeable on both ends, making it more a thin veil between the two worlds. Which is how the seven of you made it here, and how some of our people got out there.” Hurley taps the marker against her chin as she thinks. “The thing is, no one from  _ your _ world has ever passed through this side, so you being here is--”

“Fate.” Sloane gets down from the desk and crosses her arms. “Istus allowed the seven of you to come here for a reason, and we think we know why.”

“Why’s that?” Davenport asks, and Merle leans back in his chair to watch as Sloane steps forward and takes Taako’s empty mug. Hurley puts the cap on her marker and pushes the white board back in the direction from which it had come.

“We’ve been dealing with a lot of, um… outbreaks. People from our world crossing into yours unduly. The most recent was a friend of ours, Brian?” Magnus and Lup make matching noises of surprise as Taako begins to laugh. “Do-- Have you met him?”

“We might’ve set him on fire,” Taako says between snorts, and Lup’s face goes very pale before she begins laughing as well, a perplexed expression on Magnus’s face. Lucretia speaks up again, a faint smile on her lips.

“It’s highly possible that we’ve met… many creatures from this world. We, uh, we call them cryptids. Like Mothman, Nightwalker, the Loch Ness--”

“Not that one,” Davenport interrupts, and Merle barks out a laugh at Davenport’s indignant expression. “We’ve talked about this, Nessie doesn’t count. But the others… yeah, we might’ve met a few.”

“Oh!” Hurley claps her hands together with a big smile before turning to Sloane. “You owe me twenty bucks, babe.”

Sloane rolls her eyes with a small grin. “Later. Let’s get to the point.”

“Right, right.” Hurley nods. “Well, we think the reason that Istus allowed you to pass through the wall was so that you could help us. There are no laws preventing our people from going into that world whenever they please, but there are some… creatures, that have broken the existing laws and need to be arrested. And since we--” she gestures around the large B99 office. “--can’t leave this world, we’ve been needing some help.”

“And you want us to help?” Merle sits forward then, eyebrows raised. “We’re a bunch of idiots in an RV--”

“I disagree,” Lup started, but Davenport put a hand out to stop her. 

“No, Merle’s right. We’re just a couple nerds making a documentary, what-- what are we supposed to do for you?”

“We talked about that on the ride here, and we have… a few friends. If you can catalogue the placements of a few of our prisoners, then we can send them out to get them,” Sloane says quietly. “Killian, Carey, and Noelle are like, uh… bounty hunters, I guess.”

“Sick,” Taako mumbles. “Do they have cool leather jackets? Do  _ we _ get cool leather jackets? I mean I already have four but another one wouldn’t hurt.”

Lup reaches over and punches her brother, hard. “Those are  _ my _ cool leather jackets, dipshit.”

“Anyway,” Lucretia says with a sigh. “I think Davenport has a question.”

Davenport snaps his fingers and points to her. “That I do. Wavelength, Lucretia. But, yes, I was wondering-- if we do this for you guys, are we still allowed to document the creatures we find and meet for my documentary?”

Hurley and Sloane share that  _ look _ again before Sloane nods. “We don’t mind. As long as when it’s done we get to be the first to watch it.”

“Done.” Davenport grins, a blinding flash of teeth. “Just give us a list, y’know, descriptions and stuff. We’ll do our best.”

“Done,” Sloane repeats, and her smile grows larger, a warm expression as she moves around the desk to retrieve a notepad and pen. Hurley takes all of the mugs and places them on a tray, disappearing through a door to the left of the office as Sloane jots down information from her computer.

The seven members of the IPRE crew share a  _ look _ themselves, and  _ this _ , this is what they’ve been waiting for! This is the moment where the story gets interesting, and the excitement is a tangible white thread weaving all of them together, closer in this moment. It’s Taako that breaks the silence, studying his recently painted coral pink nails with a slow grin.

“From cryptid hunting to bounty hunting. I dig it.”

…

 

Magnus is the one to point it out, when they’re heading back to the RV. He pushes his sunglasses down onto his nose and points, over the horizon of Goldcliff toward the mountain looming in the distance. “That sure doesn’t exist in our world.”

Everyone turns to stare at the mountain, and Hurley, who had been going to get back on her motorcycle, chuckles.

“Oh, that’s Legato Mountain. Yeah, it’s a staple of our world primarily. The magic that… that makes this world, it resonates from there. No one really knows why.” She lowers the visor of her ram helmet over her face and gives everyone a thumbs up. “You guy’s will be great, don’t worry about it. And don’t forget that number Sloane gave you, got it?”

“Got it,” Taako replies with his own thumbs up, leaning against his sister. Magnus waves to Hurley as she hops on her motorcycle and races off, but then his eyes drift back to the mountain, backlit by the soft pink sky. There’s… something about that mountain that echoes like a song in his chest, and it continues to thrum through his bones long after the RV passes through the wall again.

He doesn’t know it at this moment, but that song will stay with him for many, many years. It is his fate, in a sense, the lull and whisper of the notes that wrap around his heartbeat and become him. It is this very song that will change everything, but not yet.

Not yet.

… 

 

The next few months are a whirl of the IPRE crew and their RV-- which they decided to name Starblaster after a very heated, drunken argument-- traipsing across Faerūn with their cameras in hand. Lup and Taako go back to Brian the Arachnotaur to check on him, and when they tell him about their whole deal with Hurley and Sloane he just collapses dramatically and waxes poetic about his fiance. 

Then he promises to wait for Killian to arrive, which was the nicest of their strange encounters. Luckily Magnus did boxing in high school and college, and Lup took several self defense classes, because most of the creatures they come across are a bit more… rambunctious.

The thing about Taako is, he doesn’t do fights. No, when it comes to fending off creatures desperate to escape, Taako’s known to shout “I’m good out here!” as his sister and closest friend rush inside.

This time, though, that’s not an option. Taako, for whatever reason, has been sent off  _ by himself _ . There’s emphasis on that because it’s not a common system: usually it’s either Barry, Davenport and Merle, or Magnus, Taako and Lup. But the two older dudes are off trying to hunt down the Nightwalker again, Lup and Merle are both pretty beaten up, and Barry and Lucretia are knee deep in trying to fix some video footage that got messed up.

Also, Taako may have stubbornly chosen to do this gig just to be spiteful. It’s not an inherently hard one: the cryptid’s name is  _ Kravitz _ , of all things. Kravitz the cryptid, jeez.

Currently Taako is standing outside of an abandoned house, painted pink like the lemonade he used to make when he couldn’t sleep at night. It’s a horrendous color for a house, honestly, but there’s something about the Victorian architecture that Taako pleasantly enjoys.

He fidgets with the heavy camera around his neck, taking a deep breath. This is a bit more of a ghostly situation than Taako is comfortable with, but also Magnus and Lup are betting against him being able to wrangle this one, and he’s not about to lose $40. 

“Deep breaths, baby,” he whispers to himself before nodding and walking up the stairs to the house. Evidently this house has remained abandoned because of Kravitz, a skeletal man in a suit-- a suit!?-- who drives others away with a scythe. It makes absolutely no sense, and maybe that’s why Taako found himself so interested in this job.

According to Hurley and Sloane, Kravitz hasn’t done anything wrong. He’s another bounty hunter, but instead of working for them he works for someone known as The Raven Queen, and his job-- well, basically everything about this guy is very ghostly. He attends to the magical dead, hunting ghosts in a far more serious sense than the shows Davenport watches when he can’t sleep.

He’s been MIA for too long, though, and The Raven Queen has asked that Hurley and Sloane find him and figure out  _ why _ . And that’s exactly what Taako is about to do. He tugs on the knob of the front door and it’s not locked, swinging open slowly to reveal a living room full of white sheets draped over old furniture, late evening light casting Taako’s long shadow across the dark wood floor.

There’s an air of stillness, an untouched quality to everything as Taako steps inside, holding the camera up to his face to view the world through the flash as he takes a few pictures. He catches some good angles to the haunting furniture and dusty shafts of light, and takes a nice picture of himself in one of the hallway mirrors as he makes his way through the entire first floor. There’s no one in sight, and no sign of anyone ever having been here. The fridge is empty and dark from a lack of power, the water coming out of the faucet a rusty, gurgling brown.

“Lovely.” Taako gets a short video of the ugly water and the rest of the kitchen before turning to head upstairs. And then he hears it: a soft thump, followed by the hiss of someone cursing. A familiar sound, kind of like when Lup gets up to make a bowl of cereal in the middle of the night and is startled by Barry, also awake and munching on food. Their interactions always wake Taako up, and then everyone is up at some ungodly hour of the night, eating homemade chocolate waffles and groggily watching whatever terrible movie gets put on as everyone crowds the couch and the floor around it.

Taako glares at that intrusive thought and moves to the stares, camera raised and eyes alert as he tries to keep his steps light. Somewhere in the back of his mind he thinks about how he probably looks like a cinematic masterpiece, with his purple skirt floating behind him, his black lace crop top fitted closely to his body. He looks beautiful, in a simple way, a borrowed pair of Lup’s chunky boots laced up to just under his knees.

Unfortunately, it’s those heavy boots that make Taako’s first step onto the second floor loud. He winces away from the sound but continues walking, lips pressed together at the small feeling of fear in his stomach.

He hears a thump again, louder this time, and swivels around as a door slams open behind him. And then Taako stops because  _ hot damn _ , that was not what he was expecting. The man who walks out of the bedroom is decked out in a fitted black suit, long dreads tied back from his chiseled face. He’s got his scythe gripped in both gloved hands, eyes wide and burning gold.

“Who-- You’re not Killian or--”

Taako blinks away his surprise at that absurd Cockney accent to instead shrug his shoulder slowly. “Nah, I’m a different sorta bounty hunter. Though I’ve heard you’re one as well. What’s up with that, thug?”

_ Oh god, what even?  _ Taako is mentally hitting his head against a brick wall, but he keeps his smile long and sultry as Kravitz lowers his scythe and steps in Taako’s direction. Almost quick as a rattlesnake Taako lifts the camera and snaps a few pictures in rapid succession, which immediately drives Kravitz back.

“What the hell?” He whisper-yells, thick brows heavy over his glare. Taako just smirks and leans against the banister of the stairs, tossing his hair over his shoulder.

“So why’ve you been MIA, skull dude? Sloane says The Raven Queen’s been looking for you.”

“And she sent you to come and get me?” This time Kravitz laughs and Taako instinctively flinches away from the sharp sound. There’s a flash of a memory in the back of his mind but he shoves it deep, deep down and puts on a smile. “Those two dryads must really be desperate.”

“Yeah?” Taako tilts his head. “You wanna tell me  _ why _ you’ve been hiding from your boss?”

There’s a flicker in Kravitz’s molten eyes and Taako barely has a chance before Kravitz twirls his scythe around and slams the blade into the ground, creating a force so strong that Taako has to brace himself against the banister. He’s able to keep himself standing, and that leaves him witness to an odd sight. A golden spark seems to be crackling around Kravitz’s body, and then his face is melting… revealing nothing but the glistening white skull underneath. His eyes still burn like two golden coins when looks up at Taako, though, and if it were possible for a skull to grin that would be what he’s doing.

“Didn’t catch your name,” Kravitz murmurs, taking a step back toward the window behind him, and Taako feels a small breath pass through his lips.

“The name’s Taako.”

“Well.” Kravitz swings his scythe up onto his shoulder, the blade curving dangerously over his shoulder. “I’m sure I’ll see you around, Taako.”

And then he’s turning and throwing himself through the window. Taako lunges forward, camera up as he blindly tries to get as many pictures as possible. He runs for the window and braces himself against the sill with one arm, camera extended out of the window to catch a snap of--

Nothing. There’s no sign of the hot skeletal dude, just a bunch of shattered glass on the driveway outside. Taako feels himself huff out a breath as he thinks about the forty dollars he’s about to lose. 

“Oh, you’ll see me again, Kravitz.” Taako nods once to himself. “I’m gonna figure you out.”


	5. red like roses

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> the relationship everyone was betting on finally comes to fruition, and magnus gets really sappy. also, fate comes knocking, or rather, chiming?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> man, life has SUCKED, but it's 6am and I wanted to put this chapter out there because I love sappy shit and also i feel bad for vanishing for a bit :'') sorry.
> 
> I have no sense of editing, so I apologise!!

Lup falls onto the couch beside Barry, throwing her legs up into his lap as she checks something on her phone. Barry, startled by this sudden intrusion into his silent dozing, jumps, his phone almost falling out of his hands. He’s quick to tighten his grasp on it, and he doesn’t miss the soft smirk that spreads across Lup’s face. She’s wearing her red leather jacket as always, and a pair of gray yoga pants covered in paint.

She doesn’t say a word so neither does Barry, the two of them just sitting in silence for a few minutes. Barry’s phone eventually pings with a text from Lup, and he opens it to find a very well edited picture of a cat wearing a ballgown. Barry snorts and looks at Lup to respond, but she only puts a finger to her lips.

Instead, he texts her:  _ You’re an amazing editor and THIS is what you spend your time doing? _

She laughs softly before responding:  _ usin my time wisely my dude ;) _

**Barry:** _ is that what sitting here with me is? Spending your time wisely? _

**Lup:** _ shut up. _

And so he does, a small smile playing across his face. Lup occasionally sends him more pictures, ranging from links to campfire recipes to more edited pictures of animals in strange fashion. At some point she sends him a picture of a mongoose in a pair of denim jeans and he laughs so hard that even she giggles a bit. She’s shifted into an upright position, leaning against the back of the couch, but her legs are still in Barry’s lap and he’s found that he doesn’t mind as he casually leans his arms against her shins.

He shoots back a picture of denim lingerie he found and she almost instantly punches him with one hand, using the other to text a quick  _ >:O _ that makes him smile like an idiot. Of course this starts a denim war, as they both search for the most outrageous jean outfits they can find. This cycle of eye-torture lasts for an absurdly long amount of time before Barry, in a sudden burst of recklessness, sends her a text.

_ I found this song that reminded me of you _ .

**Lup:** _oh yea? wht is it?_

He bites down on his bottom lip as he searches for the song. It was a violin and piano duet he heard, around when this whole adventure first started, and when Lup had told him she once played the violin, well… He gets the link and texts it to her, wondering briefly if she’s going to leave and listen to the song by herself. Instead, she pulls a knotted pair of earbuds out of her jacket pocket, untangling them quickly before handing one bud to Barry and placing the other in her ear. She scoots closer without removing her legs from his lap, clicking on the link and pressing her lips together as the song begins.

The opening notes reflect Barry’s own nervousness in this moment, thrumming low and soft. It’s just the piano at first, the pianist’s fingers moving slowly across the keys. But then the violinist is suddenly lit by a spotlight and Lup let’s out a soft gasp as the violin joins the piano and slowly, ever so slowly the song flourishes. It unfurls into a wordless tale of love, the violinist swaying with every note, the pianist’s hands playing across the keys with a desperate fervor. It’s a story of loss, too, as the violin drops out for a moment and it’s just the piano, growing into a dangerous discordant mess before the music falls silent. And then there is the violin again, and Barry is so sure he can feel Lup’s eyes on him.

He glances up and she  _ is _ looking at him, oceanic eyes wide and lips parted. She looks so completely in awe of the music, and it doesn’t take Barry long to realize she’s  _ crying _ , eyes welling up as the song builds into a crescendo. Without thinking he reaches up and wipes a tear from her face, smiling hesitantly.

When the song ends they both sit in silence, facing each other,  _ looking _ at each other. Then Lup quietly gets up, leaving Barry’s lap cold as she wrapped the cord of the earbuds around her phone and shoved it into her jacket pocket. 

Barry’s suddenly worried he did something wrong by sharing that song with her, and his heartbeat ricochets into panic mode as he moves to stand as well. “Lup, I’m sorry if--”

Lup pushes him down with one hand, eyes turned to the side as he falls back and looks up at her in worry. But then she leans down, hand still against his shoulder, and presses a soft kiss to his lips.

_ Oh. _

It’s so unexpected that Barry’s eyes stay wide open for several seconds, but then he feels himself melt into the kiss, eyes drifting shut as he met her kiss with an equally soft pressure, one hand moving to cup her cheek as she moved closer and the kiss deepened. And, oh, the places that kiss could have gone… Had Magnus not chosen that moment to kick open the door to the RV. 

Lup immediately lunges back, entire face red as she quickly walks away and slips past Magnus out of the door. Magnus stands there holding the pot of chili with wide eyes, looking like a lost puppy as he stares between Barry and the door.

“Did I… interrupt something?” There’s an edge of hopefulness in his voice that somehow adds to the hurt that Barry feels from Lup leaving so abruptly. He looks down at his phone with a sigh.

“Nope. You’re good. How close is dinner to being done?” 

Magnus huffs, setting the pot down on the stove-that-doesn’t-work. “Chili’s done, Merle’s got the hot dogs cooking right now. Should be about, um, ten minutes?”

“Cool.” Barry stands, pocketing his phone. “Cool.”

Lup doesn’t talk to him for the rest of the night, sticking close to Taako’s side and retaining her joking personality. Barry tries to make eye contact with her a few times but she always quickly looks away. 

She  _ was _ the one who initiated the kiss so… why is she acting like this? Barry’s anxieties begin to eat away at him. Maybe she realized it was a mistake. Maybe she’s already got someone in her life that she loves and maybe that kiss was just because she was so emotional and maybe she doesn’t actually have any feelings for him and maybe--

Barry huffs, getting up from his chair and tossing his plate, along with his barely touched food, into the garbage tied to the door of the RV, before heading inside.

Maybe Barry is overreacting. He just needs to find something to drink and work on something to keep himself busy. He grabs a Dr. Pepper out of the fridge and moves to sit at the booth, opening up his laptop. He’s immediately greeted by his inbox, overflowing with claims of ‘cryptids’ that they need to look for. Barry sighs as he scrolls through, using one hand to pop the tab on his soda as he skims the emails.

And then he sees a familiar name. There’s an email from ‘kidDetective’-- several, actually. Barry clicks on the most recent with a frown.

 

_ Hello sir! I hate to be such a bother while trying to reach you, but this feels like a matter of urgency. Please don’t take this as a surprise, but I know about the Wall of Istus, and that you are hunting specific cryptids! It took a lot of research but i was able to get ahold of a list myself, and I think I know where one of the Wanted cryptids is.  _

_ See, I met this man named Jenkins who seemed sketchy to me, and I looked into him. And he doesn’t really exist! He’s only ever been here in Rockport, and only ever for a few months of the year. And, if I’m correct sir, Jenkins  _ is  _ a name on that list. It would be an honor to meet you guys, should you come into town! _

_ Sincerely, _

_ Angus McDonald _

 

Barry has to reread the email several times before the reality hits him, and he picks up his laptop as he runs outside. Lup’s laugh is loud by the fire and it’s almost distracting but the excitement Barry feels is enough to eclipse that.

“Guys, I got a job for us. An urgent one.” He passes the laptop off to Davenport, who is quick to set down his plate and wipe his hands. “This, uh, this kid that’s been following our blog for awhile, he knows about the Wall of Istus and all of that, and he found one of the guys we’re looking for.”

Taako sits up, pointing an almost accusatory finger at Magnus. “Fork over the money, you over-sized Mango Smoothie!”

“Wha--!?” Magnus chokes on his bite for a second before swallowing. “Oh, c’mon Taako, we made that bet  _ months _ ago!”

Lup is laughing so hard she rolls off of the log she’s using as a seat, which then makes even Lucretia giggle. Davenport eventually hands Barry back his laptop with a nod. “Yeah, we can go there next.Email that kid back and tell him I said thank you.”

“Of course.” Barry refuses to look in Lup’s direction this time, keeping his eyes on the keyboard of his laptop as he moves to head back inside. He’s settling back in at the booth to email Angus back when the RV door slams open and Lup walks in, face flushed as she steps inside and shuts the door.

“Hey…”

Barry bites down on his bottom lip as he glances up. “Hey, Lup.” And then he moves his hands from his laptop to his lap, looking down. “I’m sorry about, uh… earlier. The kiss, and… the song.” Lup makes a sharp noise and Barry looks up to see her leaning against the wall with a… hurt expression? She looks wounded, which makes Barry stand. “Lup, what’s wrong?”

She sighs, leaning her head back against the wall as she turns to look at him. “I really liked that song. And I’ve-- well, I mean, I’ve wanted to kiss you for months. Years? Who even knows, um… I just panicked, I guess. When Magnus came in I-- Well, to be honest I didn’t know if you wanted it, and I didn’t want to make a fool out of myself in front of someone else in case you were about to reject me and--”

Barry steps forward and presses a soft kiss to Lup’s cheek to cut her off, not meeting her eyes as he smiles. “I’ve kinda wanted to kiss you for years, too.”

“Oh?” Lup’s cheeks are definitely red as she looks at him, and this is a moment neither of them will forget. A soft, hesitant second as they look at each other, and then a gasp of a breath just before their lips meet for a hesitant but pleasant kiss.

It was forever wrapped up in a moment.

…

 

When they get to Rockport, Taako makes the executive decision that he’s going to this tattoo parlor in town called La Victoire, and he’s taking Magnus with him. Davenport tries to argue but Taako is already jumping out of the Starblaster, Magnus close behind him.

Rockport is a beautiful town, but the people that live within it are bland and too similar. Like, Taako is pretty sure that five of the guys he’s seen all look the exact same, but Magnus has no idea what he’s talking about.  Whatever.

La Victoire sticks out, though, the sign outside decorated to look like words scrawled across old parchment, music notes painted along the length of the dark wooden French doors. Magnus holds one door open and Taako slinks through with a big grin across his face.  La Victoire is decorated like an artist’s wet dream, all of the walls covered in beautiful art in stained wooden frames. There are dark brown leather chairs for waiting and a circular desk where a boy with his dreads pulled back into a bun is flipping through a catalogue of images. Taako saunters up to the desk and leans casually against it, looking down at the book of art.

“That looks cool. Are you the artist?”

The guy looks up and gives a crooked grin. He’s attractive, Magnus will give him that, all dimples and adorably large ears, and he’s got a nice voice. “Nah, these’re all by my friend Johann. He’s fucking brilliant. I’m Avi, by the way.” 

Avi extends his hand first to Taako and then to Magnus, dark brown eyes bright with mirth. Magnus feels himself smiling back. “I’m Magnus, and this is Taako. We were wondering if you had any artists that could draw an image if we gave a, uh… a vague description?”

Avi frowns for a second before shrugging. “I mean, I can? My art style isn’t like Johann’s but--”

“I want this tattoo,” Taako interrupts, pointing down at what looks like an elaborate umbrella surrounded by stars. “It looks cool.”

Avi nods and then glances up at Magnus. “And you? What sort of vague tattoo are you hoping to get?”

As Taako moves away from the counter and studies the art on the walls, Magnus launches into a confusing explanation of the pretty deer-like creature they had seen a few weeks ago, with large antlers and many sets of eyes, it’s coarse hair the color of blood. Avi nods along with the description, mouth quirked to the side, until finally Magnus shuts up and a large smile spreads across his face.

“That’s a cool image. Where d’you want it? Your back, maybe?”

“I’m saving my back. Gotta find something meaningful first. I was thinking more on my ribs. Just the head and antlers.” Magnus lifts up his shirt to show the empty gap, revealing the other tattoo he has on his stomach, a weird mechanical bird that has it’s wings spread just under his breasts, the tips of it’s feathers centimeters from his top surgery scars. There’s also the barest hint of fire licking up his hip, in memory of Brian the Arachnotaur, as there was nothing Lup could say that would have convinced Magnus to get a spider tattooed onto his body.

Avi whistles when he sees the bird, eyes wide. He doesn’t say much else, though, instead typing up something on the laptop beside him before hopping down from the stool behind the table, walking into a room in the back.

It doesn’t take long before Magnus is settled into a long black leather chair, shirt off and arm thrown over his head as Avi takes the really beautiful and quick sketch he had done and begins to outline it over the ribs. They talk about interests and hobbies, and Magnus ends up blathering through the pain, talking about their massive road trip across the country, finding strange creatures and doing their best to get them on video. Avi seems genuinely interested, and even tells a few ghost stories from his childhood.

Magnus likes the sound of his voice. It’s easy to focus on, instead of the bursts of pain streaking through his body.

“So you got anyone your interested in, big guy? I can’t imagine someone like you not having someone.” Avi pauses for a moment to brush hair out of his face and Magnus chuckles as he studies the painting on the wall of a strange moon.

“Yeah, Julia. She’s from back home. We’ve been together for a few years now… Well, really, we’ve been friends since we were kids.”

“You married?”

Magnus nods, pursing his lips. “Yeah, Julia has always been a definite in my life. I can’t imagine not being with her. But we’ve still kept our relationship open, what with her being in the military and me being, well, everywhere.”

Avi laughs, nodding his head. “That’s very interesting.How are you so sure the two of you will stay together?”

“You don’t find forever people that often.” The words came out softer than Magnus had meant for them to, and somehow he finds himself thinking about the other people living in his massive RV, those peculiar and funny people who basically burst into his life and completely changed it. Maybe he’s lying: maybe forever people are all around you, but it’s a matter of fate as to whether you meet.

“Everyone’s a forever person to someone,” Avi says, as if reading his thoughts. “It’s just a matter of fitting the right puzzle pieces together.”

From a nearby part of the tattoo shop there’s the distinct sound of Taako’s bubbling laughter, and it makes both Avi and Magnus jump. Luckily the tattoo gun was nowhere near his skin. The tattoo is finished an hour later, though, and Magnus is almost reluctant to go, even though Taako keeps trying to draw his attention with the promise of good food.

The other artist, Johann, is a tall dude with a permanently sad face but kind voice, and he’s the one currently sitting at the front desk. Avi already has another person ready to get their tattoo, so Magnus can’t go back there, but…

He steps up to the front desk, taking one of the La Victoire business cards and a blue ink pen from the cup beside the laptop, scrawling his phone number and drawing his best doodle of a happy dog beside the words “ _ in case you ever want to hear more goofy stories about monsters! or something. _ ”

Johann raises a brow at the card, but he does nod as Taako finally grabs Magnus by his arm and yanks him outside. Once out there Taako turns to Magnus with both hands on his hips. “Playing at polyamory, are we?”

“Taako.”

“Oh, I’m not judging, he was one cute piece of art, but that doesn’t mean I can keep this a secret.” Taako’s mouth curls into a vicious smirk. “You know how inquisitive my darling sister can be…”

Magnus feels his ears burn red. “I will buy you whatever you want for dessert if, for the love of all that is holy, you shut the fuck up.”

Taako raises his hands in surrender, but there was something calculating about his smile that left Magnus feeling wary for the rest of the night. They picked up Taco Bell on their walk back to the Starblaster, and then stopped by a bakery so that Taako could pick and choose some donuts for everyone in the morning. By the time they returned the sky was turning a burnt pink shade, stars begin to flicker to life above them.

Magnus found himself checking his phone every few seconds. Almost immediately after leaving La Victoire Magnus had texted Julia, practically rambling his little heart out about Avi for reasons he didn’t entirely know. Julia, in turn, had lovingly made fun of him, and then sent him pictures of some cute animals she had seen.

Taako says nothing to anyone, but  that doesn’t stop his expression from becoming terrifyingly mischievous whenever he makes eye contact with Magnus. Lup is normally quick to catch on to odd looks, but she seems more entranced by her conversation with Barry. In all honesty Magnus could probably throw a burning log at her and she wouldn’t even flinch, and Barry isn’t much better.

Magnus is just glad that he was betting on them, cause now everyone owes him and Lucretia money for being the only two to be hopeless romantics.

It’s getting close to midnight, and Magnus is just starting to get drowsy, when he finally receives a text.

_ tell me how tomorrow goes! And if you ever need another tattoo, no matter how far away you are, just know I’ll give you a discount ;) _

Magnus smiles against his pillow, but sleep is quick to overtake him before he can respond.

... 

 

And, in a place far away and yet exactly where they are, a bell seems to chime, and keep chiming, and it echoes and dissolves and then there is a stillness. It is an abnormal stillness, strange and thrumming with energy. The seven IPRE members, all in varying states of sleep or wakefulness, feel themselves pause in this moment.

Lucretia, sitting on her bed with a cup of tea in hand, blinks slowly at the screen of her laptop before looking up at the dark wall opposite her. She’s overcome with a sense of guilt that is wholly out of place, making tears sting at the corners of her eyes even though, in that moment, she has yet to do anything wrong.

Davenport, half awake in the driver’s seat, suddenly jerks awake, staring wide-eyed out into the trees that frame the Starblaster. For that still few seconds, it’s hard for him to remember anything but his name, and when it passes he’s left with a taste like blood in his mouth, his thoughts an uncomfortable mess as he finally gets up and moves to go to bed.

Lup and Barry are still outside, enjoying the last remnants of the warm fire. They had been talking about whether Ghost Adventures was a good show, when the conversation fades into a small pause, both of them lost in their own thoughts for a second.

Lup looks to the fire, her features illuminated in an unearthly way. There’s an ache in her chest, like her heart’s no longer beating and instead she’s a hollowed out shell of a person, wasting away. It’s a horrifying feeling that sucks the air out of her lungs and makes her shift closer to Barry.

Barry is sure he’s imagining it, but Lup feels  _ hot _ , and not in the physical appearance sense. Her skin seems to burn when he touches her, and his thoughts grow muddled and off, like they’re melting together inside his head. When the moment passes Barry is more hesitant to wrap his arms around Lup, for fear of being burned, but once she’s cradled against his chest he doesn’t want to let go.

Taako, chilling on the couch with a bowl of Lucky Charms and reading a recipe for beef stroganoff, gets a sudden sick feeling in the pit of his stomach, and he has to close his eyes against the sudden wave of nausea and… hatred. There’s a deep, burning anger settled just under his diaphragm, and it doesn’t go away for a while. He has no way of knowing who it is that he’s angry at, but it leaves him shaken well into the night.

Merle, sleepy and laying in his bed, gently sets down the picture of his kids as an unfamiliar loneliness crawls across his skin. He aches for a relationship he cannot name and has never experienced, a bond founded on something out of place. Like two puzzle pieces that fit together but don’t match. He presses the picture of his children against his chest and just waits for the faint pain to pass. Merle’s known loneliness for much of his life, but there was something different about it this time, as if he had been alone for centuries before.

And Magnus, asleep and dreaming peacefully of a castle full of dogs and large semi-sentient wooden ducks, finds his dream interrupted by the arrival of a strange and majestic jellyfish that dances across the sky, blending into the starlit sky almost seamlessly. It seems to glow from within, and there’s a song that follows this jellyfish, echoing through this dream. It’s a plea, a cry, but Magnus has yet to understand that. And so for now he dreams of this strange jellyfish, feeling a pang in his chest that he won’t be able to place. Not yet.

… 


	6. a derailed train of thought

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jenkins proves to be a shitty monster, Barry and Davenport start to wonder about vastly different things, and there's a bit more to the story than any of them ever thought there would be.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> it's been brough to my attention by writing this chapter that if there's anything I can't do, it's write action scenes. That's definitely something I'll be working on, but I apologize that some parts of this chapter probably read poorly.

Merle is not a short guy. He’s of a pretty average height, and his personality can sometimes make him seem much taller. Really, it’s just that Magnus and Taako are so outrageously tall, and it makes Merle look like he’s shrunk.

Angus McDonald is eleven years old, and even Merle has to begrudgingly admit that he’s fairly tall. He’s an interesting boy, wearing an outfit that looks like a private school uniform, circular glasses perched at a crooked angle on his nose. He meets the three of them-- Merle, Taako, and Magnus-- at a cafe close to the center of town, and Merle watched Magnus look longingly in the direction of the tattoo parlor as they pass it.

“You just got your tattoo, didn’t you? What’s the rush?”

“Huh?” Magnus looked down to Merle, a high blush rising across his cheekbones and his eyes widening slightly. “No, it’s-- I don’t want another tattoo, Merle.”

“He just wants to fuck the tattoo artist,” Taako chimed in, and Magnus sputtered the entire rest of the walk to the cafe. Now he’s sitting a little separate from the four of them, smiling down at his phone like a lovesick idiot.

And Angus is still talking.

“--They’re really some of the most interesting novels because even though Caleb is just a kid he, well, they don’t  _ treat _ him like a child. Like, all of the other detectives truly appreciate his opinion, his family  _ listens _ , it’s--”

Taako finally cuts him off by slamming his mug down on the wooden tabletop, a big smile on his face. “That’s lovely, kid, but we should get to talking about Jenkins.”

Angus takes a small breath, a strange look passing over his face before he beams. “Of course!” He then reaches down and pulls a large pink binder out of his backpack, flipping it open and skimming through the pages. “I’ve seen him three times, all in the forest. It’s hard to explain, hmm…  _ how _ he looks, because his appearance is so warped and out of focus.”

“What do you mean?” Merle asks, reaching over the table to punch Magnus in the arm. The big guy barely flinches, but he does begrudgingly put his phone down as Angus leans forward slightly.

“I mean, he’s got a weird face. It… looks wrong. All of him looks wrong, really.”

“In the e-mail you made it sound like you just met him in a park or something.” Taako stirs his latte slowly, head tilted at a curious angle. Merle’s reminded of a cat, especially with that weird glint in Taako’s otherwise emotionless eyes. “What was a baby like you doin’ out in the forest?”

Angus sits up a little bit taller and the light reflects off of his glasses. “My… parents don’t mind. We live along the edge of the trees, so I like to go out there in search of my own cryptid findings.”

“Oh?” Taako tips his chin up slightly. “Well aren’t you so brave.”

“Anyway,” Magnus interjects, shooting a glare at Taako. “You got any idea of where he  _ could _ be?”

“Even better.” Angus puts his binder back in his backpack, sitting up fast enough that his unruly curls bounce slightly. There’s something about him that irritates Merle, something too bone-deep to really understand, but it makes the older man sit back in his chair and glare around the cafe. It’s fairly empty, even though the decor is nice and the coffee is amazing.

When Angus stands, throwing his backpack over his shoulder, Merle feels his eyes narrow. “You gonna finish that thought, kid?”

Angus just smiles. “I’m going with you!”

…

 

It’s been years. Davenport has been doing this for  _ years _ . Hunting strange creatures through dark forests, documenting them to the best of his ability, driving for hours across highways and dirt roads. He’s spent years with these people: he’s dealt with Magnus bench pressing random objects, Taako cooking at four in the morning, Lup setting things on fire, and Barry accidentally breaking things because something else has his attention while he’s walking.

And it’s been fun, really. Davenport’s wanted nothing more than to continue this adventure in the hopes of accumulating the best evidence for his documentary-- although this has been thrown a bit askew by their recent contract with the police of the Other world-- and there are thousands of people online who love the various blog posts that Davenport and the others have written.

But recently there’s been a nagging doubt in the back of his mind. Like… Is this actually worth it? He loves his new friends, his  _ family _ , but sometimes he’ll catch himself staring intently at Audacity late at night, a weird pang of loss in his chest that he can’t place.

Like he’s fighting a losing battle.

…

 

Against Merle’s reluctance Magnus agrees to let Angus tag along, which is how they end up in the smaller boy’s backyard, staring into the trees. Taako, though, is looking back at the house, his thoughts still fuming from the interaction they just had with Angus’ father.

There’s something about watching an older man hit a small boy atop the head that doesn’t sit well with Taako.

Angus starts walking forward and Taako has to pull his attention away from the peeling blue house, with it’s lopsided back porch and patchy grass. There’s something familiar about the house that makes his stomach turn in loops, and he walks into the forest thinking about too many foster homes. Too many bruises.

“Over here a foster sister of mine carved a unicorn into the tree, and--”

Taako flinches away from the word ‘foster’, given where his thoughts had just strayed. “Foster sister? You’re a foster kid?”

“Mhm!” Angus beams, bouncing up to the tree and pointing at the crudely drawn unicorn. A mishap in making the horn makes it look more like a binicorn, and  _ that _ makes Taako smile. Angus just traces the binicorn for a second, his expression unreadable before it’s back to being a bright smile and he turns to head deeper in the forest. Merle gruffly moves to follow, but before Magnus can move Taako lunges forward and grabs his arm.

“Magnus I… don’t feel good about that kid.”

“Why?” Magnus scowls like a confused puppy. “He’s nice.”

“He’s hiding something.” Taako knows his words make him sound bitter and paranoid, but… it’s hard to put into words the fact that he knows  _ exactly _ what Angus is hiding, and it hits a note too personal to acknowledge. So instead of trying to explain Taako just huffs and stalks away from Magnus, crossing his arms tightly over his chest.

“Right over here is the first place that I spotted him.” Angus hops up onto a fallen, rotting tree, pointing ahead of him with his flashlight. It cuts through the evening dimness to reveal a large gap between two trees. Taako takes the camera Magnus hands him and leans down to Angus’ height, adjusting the camera to focus on the gap as he snaps a few quick pictures. 

“Did he do anything?” Merle asks, taking his own camera out of his bag. “Like, did he try to attack you?”

“Nope.”

“Bummer,” Merle mumbles, almost without thinking, but Taako’s sharp gaze is attentive and he watches the way Angus twitches at his tone. Taako grips his camera tightly before standing straight, shoving Angus off of the tree. Lightly, of course, and Angus is quick to catch himself with a startled laugh.

“C’mon, Ango, let’s get as much done tonight before it gets too dark.”

“Right this way, sirs.” Angus adjusts the straps of his backpack and heads deeper. As Taako passes Merle he cuffs him across the back of his head with a sharp glare. Merle mutters a string of cuss words under his breath, but Taako just walks away, doing his best to keep up with Angus and his fast child legs.

… 

 

Barry stretches out across the couch, rubbing a hand down his face. Him and Lup have been working on splicing together some footage of the Gaia Creek monster for the past few hours and if he has to look at another humanoid raven one more time he might lose it. A well deserved break is needed right now.

He feels a heavy weight on his hips and opens his eyes to see Lup straddling him, leaning forward to place her elbows on his chest as she presses the palms of her hands into her eyes. Barry feels his face heat up, but he’s still grinning. After that first day of insecurity Lup has proven to be pretty open with her affection, and Barry loves it. He wraps his arms around her waist, feeling himself smile as she leans down and cuddles against him.

“I just want to sleep for a hundred years,” Lup mumbles against Barry’s neck, her breath tickling his hairline enough to make him shiver. He rubs a hand over her shoulders, chuckling.

“That sounds like a coma, dear.”

Lup laughs softly, and then they lay like that for several minutes, just basking in each other’s company and warmth. At one point Barry is sure that Lup has fallen asleep, her breaths even and slow, but then she sits up slightly, planting a small kiss on his nose.

Barry pokes her side. “Can I ask you a question?”

“If it’s about a dead body it wasn’t me.” Lup smiles, then, but there’s always something about her constant teasing tone that makes it hard to gauge whether or not she’s actually serious. So Barry just sits up, keeping his arms around her waist so that she stays in his lap.

“I was wondering… well, you and Taako never talk about where you’re from. Why’s that?”

Lup isn’t looking at him, head against her chest, but he feels the way her back muscles tense for a second, like she’s preparing to pull away from him. He just rubs a hand down her spine until she sighs.

“It’s… It’s not like we’re criminals on the run,” she mumbles. “We just had a shitty childhood, and it’s… boring.”

“Well that doesn’t make sense.” Barry plays with the ends of her hair, winding the curls around his fingers. “Nothing about you is boring, Lup.”

“That’s sweet.” He thinks she’s gonna leave it at that, but then she leans back and lightly pats his chest. “I’ll tell you all about my mundane backstory one of these days, but you gotta do something, like, super interesting to unlock that whole mess.”

“Can you at least tell me what you majored in at IPRE?”

Her eyes flash, for only a second, and Barry sees that brief expression of fear before she’s laughing, head tilting back to show off her long neck. “Oh, Barry.”

He opens her mouth to push just a little bit further, because it’s obvious that there’s something she’s not saying, but before he knows it her mouth is on his like a familiar heat and he’s lost to her soft touches and whispered admirations.

Still, the memory of that terrified look sits waiting in the back of his mind.

…

 

Magnus is the first one to hear anything, and it’s enough to make him almost run into a tree. Merle hears the sound next and he swivels around, eyes wide and camera raised in defense. Angus just bounces his flashlight across the trees, eyes wide behind his glasses. Taako is standing close behind Angus in his unconventional dark green dress and fishnets, looking like a model who got lost in the woods. 

Magnus noticed it when they first entered the forest: the way Taako seems to hover over Angus like some sort of protective rattlesnake. His words are sharp and mocking sometimes, but whenever Angus isn’t paying attention Taako is there to make sure he doesn’t get hurt, and he’s the first to glare when Merle says something shitty.

It makes Magnus absurdly happy, but he’s pretty sure if he ever told Taako that he’d get poisoned so he makes sure to keep that to himself.

The sound comes again: kind of like a train whistle, but too guttural. It’s a human sound, and it hurts to hear. It’s scary enough that even Angus finally pauses, bringing his arms close to his body as he shivers. “It’s… starting to get dark. I probably need to get home.”

Magnus nods slowly, but when he takes a step forward he sees the flash of someone out of the corner of his eye. He barely has a second to react before he’s being shoved off of his feet, his body slamming into the hard ground enough to drag the breath from his lungs. There's a shout of alarm from Merle, and Magnus looks up just in time to see the odd shape of a man standing between two trees. He’s got a fucked up face, like someone made him in one of the earlier Sims games. One arm is longer than the other, the sleeves of his suit jacket shredded around his pale limbs. 

“Hachi machi,” Taako says under his breath, but Magnus is already getting to his feet and grabbing Taako’s wrist.

“We need to go!”

Taako nods sharply and immediately takes Angus’ hand, Merle racing after them. That horrible whistle comes again, louder and almost like a laugh. Magnus isn’t even entirely sure where he’s going: all that matters is making sure the others are still with him. And that they get far away from Jenkins.

… 

 

Lucretia is sitting in the passenger seat, reading through her own story, when she hears the sound of pounding footsteps, and then the door to the Starblaster is being thrown open and four bodies tumble in, tripping over each other.

Davenport comes out of the bathroom, eyebrows furrowed together as Magnus lunges up from the pile of boy and immediately moves to the driver’s seat. Taako helps up a smaller boy with large glasses and leaves stuck in his curly hair, and Merle just leans against the wall by the door as Magnus starts the RV and begins to reverse.

Lucretia is the first to break the silence. “Hey, guys, um…”

“What the hell?” Davenport finishes, kneeling beside Merle and checking a long scratch down his face. There’s a pause and then Taako immediately begins laughing, a loud noise that awakes Barry and Lup from their napping on the couch. Lup sits up and throws a pillow at her brother but Taako just laughs harder. The boy standing beside him is practically vibrating with fear, fingers gripped tight around the straps of his backpack, but even he begins to chuckle.

Lucretia closes her laptop and tucks it into the glovebox, turning to Magnus. “Explain?”

He grins, but there’s a spark of panic behind it. “Jenkins. Bit, uh… Feisty.”

“Feisty!” Taako repeats, a squeak in his voice as he collapses at the table. “He tried to launch Mango into a tree!”

The boy speaks up, adjusting his glasses. “He’s never been violent with  _ me _ , but I’ve read accounts of others that claimed to have met him, and he’s known for having a rather… murderous outlook on life.”

“And you are?” Davenport helps Merle to his feet, eyes wide with worry even as he talks to the young boy.

“Angus McDonald. It’s an honor to finally meet you, sir.” Angus holds out a hand with a polite grin, and Davenport seems so shocked by it that he accepts. Lucretia hugs the headrest of the passenger seat as she watches, before turning back to assess Magnus. He’s got a few scratches down his face and neck, and his forearm looks a little bloody. Lucretia gets the first aid kit out of the glove box and leans across the gap between the seats with her hand outstretched.

“You really don’t know how to be careful, do you?”

Magnus turns onto the road, glancing at her out of the corner of his eye. “Would you believe me if I said I did absolutely nothing to invoke this attack?”

“No.”

He snorts, holding out his hurt arm. “Thought so.”

Lucretia sets about cleaning up the deeper cuts on his arm, keeping her attention tuned to the conversation at the booth. Davenport and Merle are sitting across from Taako and Angus, Barry and Lup listening from the couch with attentive eyes.

“So how should we go about trying to document this specific… monster?” Davenport asks, straightening a stack of books once, then twice. “Like, does he have a weakness? Did Sloane leave any specific notes about him that could help?”

“Just that he’s horribly bad at what he does.” Taako sighs, stretching his arms above his head before reaching down to ruffle Angus’ hair. “You got anything, little guy? I mean, since you already seem to know so much.”

“Yes, that reminds me.” Barry gets up from the couch and moves to stand by the table. “How  _ do _ you know about the Wall of Istus?”

“Oh!” Angus lets out a nervous sort of chuckle. “I spend a lot of time downtown, and there was this book in an antique store about Faerūnian lore. A Wall was mentioned a lot, but it took a while to find the name Istus.”

“Do you still have this book?” Lup asks, and Angus nods as he goes to dig in his backpack. Lucretia wraps a bandage around Mangus’ arm before putting the first aid kit away, patting his shoulder as she moves in the direction of the table.

Angus pulls a thick tome out of his backpack, wrapped in crackling brown leather and etched with a single word: Legato.

“Legato… why does that sound familiar?”

“Oh, it’s the name of the mountain!” Magnus responds. “Yeah, the one on the other side of the wall. Evidently it’s the starting point of the magic that basically created that other world. Or something.”

“Right.” Lup takes the book and flips to one of the first pages, eyes narrowed as she reads from it. “‘Never before has a story been more triumphant than that of the seven birds and the composer.’ What does that mean?"

“There’s a story in there, a kind of fairytale, about a woman who played an instrument so beautifully that she was gifted by the mountain with prophetic songs. And she foretold of seven birds that would hold the fate of Reality’s balance.”

“But this book makes it sound like the birds  _ already _ held the fate.” Lup flips back a few pages. “‘And the composer began to sing, and in her words were seven silhouettes seen and felt and remembered without ever having been met before: the Twins, the Lover, the Protector, the Peacemaker, the Lonely Journal-Keeper, and the Wordless one.’”

A silence passes over everyone, and Angus bears brief witness to a strange moment: the air around the other seven people in the RV seems to shimmer, for just a second, a white light that weaves between all of them before fading. Angus is able to convince himself it was just a trick of the light in that moment, but later on he’ll remember that peculiar light and wonder why he didn’t see it sooner.

Finally Magnus chimes in. “Hate to go off-topic, but I’ve got Carey and Killian’s number. The other bounty hunters? I can call them and see if they can help us.”

“Yes, do that.” Davenport runs a hand over his arm, adjusting the sleeve of his jacket, and Merle throws a comforting arm around his shoulders. “Merle and Lucretia, go through that book together and see what information you can gather together about this other world. Barry, you’re gonna help me edit together that footage of the Nightcrawler that we never got around to. Lup, Magnus, Taako, you'll be going out for Jenkins footage again tomorrow."

Then he gestures to Angus. “We need to get this kid home.”

Angus sits up a little bit taller in the booth, immediately shaking his head. “It’s fine! I, uh. I texted my dad, told him a friend invited me to a sleepover. He doesn’t care enough to check.”

Lucretia looks up from the Legato book and watches Taako give Angus the same worried expression she can feel on her own face. Taako’s face flattens into an emotionless mask when Angus looks up at him, but Lucretia can tell: there’s something off about Angus, and both of them can sense it. Even Lup looks a little thrown off by his words, but after shooting a look to her brother she’s quick to look away.

Davenport just frowns. “If you’re so determined to see this through, then you can sleep on the couch. Magnus, call up Carey and Killian as soon as--”

“Hey, killer!” Magnus says loudly, phone already at his ear. “You and your girlfriend having fun being badass?”

Lup snickers, walking over to plop down on the couch beside Barry. He pulls her closer and reads over her shoulder as Magnus talks excitedly to Carey and Killian and Taako begins telling Angus some story about almost burning down an old foster home of his. Everything falls into a comfortable space, and it’s soon easy to forget that Magnus began driving to escape Jenkins. Eventually he returns to the RV park, and everyone begins to get ready to spend the night working.

Taako orders food from a Mexican restaurant recommended to him by his food blogger friend Joaquin and everyone crowds the table and the couch as they eat and research.

And everything is good, and safe.

… 

 

The next day Taako refuses to go back out into the forest five times, but each time he’s shot down by a different person. Really, he would have kept refusing, had it not been for Angus. The young boy had stopped him from walking in the direction of town, worrying at his bottom lip with the thumb and forefinger of his left hand. He didn’t speak, at first, like he was trying to decide how to phrase his sentence. And then, he spoke in a whisper:

“Why don’t you want to go back out there?”

“Death isn’t on my to-do list today, Agnes, dear.” Taako walked around Angus, only to feel a small, weak hand wrap around his wrist. He easily could have pulled away, but instead he stopped and looked back. Angus was  _ studying _ him, in that ancient and inquisitive way.

“I understand being afraid, but you’re not. Are you afraid of anything?”

Taako’s mind flashed to a memory-- a vase thrown at a wall and shattering, a pan thrown at  _ him _ \-- but he was quick to shove the memory down with a careless shrug. “I mean, whales are pretty sketchy.”

Angus had just hummed, turning to leave, but there was a look in his eyes that made something sour and untouched awaken in Taako’s chest: a need to protect at all costs. And so he had muttered a sharp “fuck” under his breath.

Luckily for him and Magnus, they’ve got Carey and Killian with them this time. Carey is short and thin, with spiky blue hair and a shocking but attractive display of piercings. She carries two knives with an ease that puts Taako on edge, but Magnus seems to thoroughly enjoy talking to her. Killian is a bit quieter, with her long black hair in a high, braided ponytail and a crossbow slung across her back. Taako isn’t really up for trying to start a conversation with her, but there’s something he’s been wondering…

He walks faster than Angus to catch up with her, tucking his hands into the pockets of his high-waisted denim shorts. “I gotta question, Killian.”

“What’s that?” She looks to him with a quizzical expression, and he clears his throat as he surveys the trees.

“Kravitz, the-- the skeledude who works for the Raven Queen. What do you know about him?”

She hops up over a large rock and Taako scrambles to follow, looking back to see Angus walking beside Lup and talking animatedly. Magnus is showing Carey the old pocketknife he always carries around with him, and she’s beaming like it’s the coolest shit she’s ever seen.

Finally, Killian responds. “There’s not much to say about him, if I’m being honest. He’s a high profile bounty hunter, but he doesn’t work for the Battlewagon Precinct. I met him once, a few years ago. Interesting dude, but he’s known for being, eh… a bit of a trickster. It’s going to be hard to catch a guy who desperately doesn’t want to be found.”

“Yeah, but  _ why _ doesn’t he want to be found?”

She shrugs, sticks and leaves crunching under her heavy boots. “Even the Raven Queen doesn’t know, and she practically raised him.” Killian looks over her shoulder before leaning a bit closer to Taako. “I did a bit of research, and evidently he was never originally from  _ our _ world. But he got hunted by something bad, and the Raven Queen saved him. He owes her a life debt.”

Taako feels his heart race for a reason he doesn’t understand. “Why was he being hunted?”

“There are all sorts of rumors, but it’s all super weird. Mostly speculations. Why?” Before Taako can even answer she snorts. “Hurley and sloane put you up to it, didn’t they?”

He nods, lips pursed as he thinks. “I wonder if he’s being hunted again…”

“Maybe.”

They lapse into silence again, and Taako eventually lets his thoughts drift away from the handsome death boy and his weird past. Angus runs ahead of everyone when they get to a certain clearing, swinging his flashlight around with a nervous gaze.

“What… how are you going to trap Jenkins?”

Killian pushes a few wispy strands of black hair out of her face, broad shoulders straightened. “We’ll create a temporary portal into our world so that I can take him through to Hurley and Sloane. Hopefully it’ll be easy, considering Jenkins was only a low profile murderer."

“Murderer?” Magnus is drawn out of his conversation with Carey as he walks forward. “Why is that not something we  _ knew _ ?”

Carey snickers, lightly punching the big guy on the arm. “Don’t worry about it.”

Magnus looks ready to ask about a million different questions, but then a train whistle echoes through the clearing, and time seems to slow. Taako wishes he could remember the details with perfect precision, but that was always Lucretia’s thing. Luckily, he remembers enough.

When Jenkins shows up, he’s just as horrendously ugly as he was before, except this time he seems especially agitated that Carey and Killian are here. He keeps ranting about  _ something _ , but Taako really doesn’t care. He kind of keeps to the sidelines for most of the “fight”, which is really just Magnus and the actual bounty hunters going at Jenkins while Lup and Taako film and basically tag team in their efforts to keep Angus safe. Angus, for the most part, just seems kind of in awe the entire time.

Unfortunately, things go a bit south, and Taako finds himself standing between Angus and Jenkins with a large stick raised. Killian is trying to set up the portal, Carey and Lup are helping Magnus to his feet, and Taako is…

Not the dude for this job, that’s for certain. But he keeps the branch steady, a lazy smile on his face. 

“You know, you were cool for a bit, but I’m kinda bored of this whole schtick.” Taako tightens his grip on the stick, and Jenkins makes that human-whistle-tortue noise again before lunging in Taako’s direction.

Taako doesn’t get the chance to do anything badass, though. Instead black ink seems to flood his vision and then there’s a hollow boom and he’s knocked off of his feet as someone else catches the blow Jenkins had thrown. 

A very handsome, very familiar someone. He’s still wearing the suit, except the jacket is missing this time. He’s got a maroon vest on over a crisp white shirt with the sleeves rolled up to reveal tattoos dancing up his forearms. The curve of his scythe cradles Jenkins misshapen hand for barely a second before Kravitz shoves the ugly man-creature away.

“Oh,” Taako hears himself gasp, and then Kravitz is turning to give him an uneven but still frustratingly attractive grin.

“We meet again, ghost hunter.”

“That we do, bone daddy,” Taako hears himself say, mouth moving faster than his brain can process, and he can feel his right ear beginning to burn in that weird it does sometimes. And he  _ knows _ Kravitz notices it by the way his smile grows, just a little bit, before he turns back to Jenkins.

Kravitz fights like a composer directs an orchestra, like a ballerina dances. Jenkins fights like a clumsy idiot, all flailing limbs and movements too heavy and slow. Everyone else watches in awe as Kravitz quickly subdues Jenkins and easily shoves him backwards into the portal. Killian shoots a bewildered glare in Kravitz direction but she immediately jumps into the portal after Jenkins, leaving the clearing in an odd silence.

Lup rocks back on the heels of her boots with a big grin. “That was impressive.”

Kravitz holds his scythe to his side with both hands, smile suddenly shy and eyes dancing across everyone but never settling anywhere. “Uh… Thank you.”

Carey snorts, hopping up onto a boulder to make herself a little bit taller than him. “Why’d you show up, Krav? You’ve been missing for a long time.”

This time Kravitz does finally focus on something, for a brief moment, and Taako feels his lungs still and stutter inside his chest when cool blue eyes meet burning gold. Then Kravitz looks away, swinging his scythe up into a huge arc over his shoulder.

“I caught wind of the… person that I’ve been looking for, but it seems I was wrong.”

“Who’ve you been looking for?” Taako asks, slowly pulling himself to his feet and brushing dirt off of his knees. Kravitz watches his movements before checking a strange black watch on his wrist. 

“Someone who shouldn’t be in this world. I’d tell you more, but…” His gaze twitched toward Carey and suddenly he was gone, with much less fanfare than had been used before. Still, Taako is left with that feeling of disappointment in his chest that he can’t explain, and he feels a pout on his face that makes his heart feel hollow.

Carey stands still beside the portal for a second, but then she just nods and turns to shake hands with Magnus. “Thanks for calling us. I’ll tell Sloane to remove some of the, uh, high risks from your list. You shouldn’t have to deal with them.”

“Thanks, but I’m sure we could handle it,” Magnus says, puffing out his chest like he needs any help in looking like he could benchpress a semi. Carey laughs at that, punching him in the bicep before skipping backwards and vanishing into the portal seconds before it’s gone.

Angus immediately speaks up, body practically vibrating with how much excitement he’s emitting. “Holy shit, sirs, that-- that was  _ awesome _ !!”

“Was it?” Lup says, pushing her hair out of her face with a short laugh. There’s something panicked about her expression, but then she puts on a smile and ruffles Angus’ hair. “You’re a weird kid.”

Angus laughs. “I get that a lot, ma’am. But really, do-- Does this happen a lot?”

Magnus cracks his knuckles as he walks over. “Sometimes, yeah. We try to avoid the creatures that are too crazy, but you can’t avoid them all. And sometimes it can be fun.”

Lup snorts. “Like the Leg Man.”

“I’m pretty sure that wasn’t his name,” Taako says, but Lup and Magnus are no longer listening as they begin telling Angus all about Davenport’s weird friendship with the Nightwalker. Taako follows behind them as they walk, but he keeps shooting glances over his shoulder.

Looking for what? He doesn’t really know, but there’s an ache between his lungs when he doesn’t see whatever he had been searching for.

... 

 

**notes scrawled in the** **_Legato_ **

_ The Voidfish and the Hunger: devourer of memories and devourer of worlds. What separates them?  _

_ The Voidfish is inherently good, some say, because they are gentle, they are thoughtful, they love with a love that consumes. But they ooze static like venom, take and take and take and rarely return. Greedy for lives unlived by them.  _

_ The Hunger is inherently bad, some say, because he is starving and relentless and determined. Because it is more, and more, growing like a disease through a bloodstream. But when he speaks he talks simply of loneliness, of desperation and a fearful existence. Hungry for someone, anyone. _

_ Two sides of the same coin, consuming and wreaking havoc. Isn’t is, simply, a matter of rumor, of legend? How different are they, truly? _

… 

 

Avi finally shuts the doors to La Victoire with an exhausted sigh. “Rockport is a small town, Jo, why did so many people come in today??”

Johann looks up from the circular counter at the front of the tattoo shop, drowsy eyes somehow even sleepier. He’s got his hair pushed back by a thick black headband, hands smeared with ink that he wipes down his shirt. “It’s a Saturday, isn’t it? Those are busy tourist days.”

“Is it Saturday?” Avi steps away from the door and pulls his phone out of his pocket. “Oh. Huh.”

The two of them begin to clean up, Avi disappearing into the back as Johann begins to mop the floor in the front room. He’s got violin music playing from the speakers, and he hums along to it as he cleans.

And then, almost soundlessly, he collapses. And in this dark, blank space, he is visited by something apart from space and time, something that doesn’t entirely make sense. It’s a jellyfish floating through the cosmos, emitting a glow that Johann can feel in his bones.

It’s  _ speaking  _ to him, trying to say something that doesn’t entirely make sense. But he knows that it’s important, the soundless words thrumming through his body. a promise-- no, a  _ fate _ . His fate, curling around his soul like a lover. And in this fate he sees a future. It’s not his, but it is as much a part of him as his own heart.

He sees seven birds: the Twins, the Lover, the Protector, the Peacemaker, the Lonely Journal-Keeper, and the Wordless one. And they stand against the backdrop of death. No, this isn’t death, but something worse.

The Hunger, devourer of worlds.

Johann doesn’t know how he knows that, but he  _ does _ , just as surely as he knows that those birds are going to destroy everything.

The jellyfish shows him something else, a clearer vision, that eats at him: He sees a dark hand pressed to a glowing blue carving on a stone wall, shaped like four triangles in a sideways hourglass-esque shape, and waves of nothingness pouring from that single touch. Years erased in the gasp of a heartbeat.

He sees a small boy holding a heart of pure magic in his hands, before throwing it up into the air and being showered in a torrent of pure energy. Neon lines dance up his skin from his hands, imbuing this boy with a power above many.

He sees two hands clasped tightly, one of them wreathed in fire. They are separated forcefully, ripped apart.

And he sees the end, and it breaks his heart in a way that leaves him feeling determined when he wakes up on the damp floor of La Victoire. Johann blinks up at the fan, a lazy smile spreading across his face.

“Whoa,” he mumbles.


	7. what will you do, what has been done?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> some shit goes DOWN!!

**notes scrawled in the** **_Legato_ ** **:**

_ What is legend once was human. In the case of the Hunger, he was just a man so enamored with his own voice that he let something _ else _ speak for him _ . _ And perhaps that was his undoing. _

… 

 

“Run this by me again.” Lup leans across the table in the direction of Angus, frowning with confusion. “How the  _ hell _ did you survive the first time you met Jenkins?”

Magnus, sitting beside Lup, elbows her in the arm. “Language.”

Lup shoots him a poisonous glare before turning back to Angus. Everyone’s crowded into two separate booths at a Waffle House, but Davenport, Merle and Lucretia are all leaning over into the other booth. All eyes are on Angus, who pokes at his eggs and avoids any actual eye contact. He looks… nervous. Truly nervous, like he committed a crime or something. If Magnus weren’t so genuinely curious himself he’d tell everyone to back off. Instead he leans forward as well, keeping his expression soft.

“Angus,  _ did _ something happen?”

“No!” Angus looks up quickly, only to look down again. “I mean… Jenkins didn’t do anything.”

Magnus is paying close enough attention that he sees Taako’s grip on his knife tighten, and when he looks up Taako’s left eye twitches. “Did someone… else do something?”

“Taako.” Lup’s voice drops to a whisper, but then Angus looks up at Taako with an expression like someone finally understanding. There’s a breath of a pause, and then everyone leans away slightly as tears begin to well up in Angus’ eyes. Taako, though, he remains perfectly still, looking down at Angus. Lup, between Barry and Magnus, makes a small mewling noise and draws away from Angus.

“Angus, what happened?” Lucretia asks from behind Taako, eyes downcast.

Angus stabs his eggs one final time before speaking. For such a young boy there’s a lot of anger in his voice, and yet he remains polite. “Being in the foster care system, uh… it sucks. I’ve had some good parents, but those houses only last a few months at most. This new family, though. Um, it’s just this dad and his actual child, and they take in a few foster children every now and then. The other kids are nice, but…”

Taako’s knife clatters against his plate and his hands shake as he lowers them into his lap. “You don’t have to say anything. He did something that first day you went into the woods, didn’t he?” Angus nods and Taako looks up at everyone with burning eyes. “So Jenkins could probably tell something was off, and he didn’t attack.”

Lucretia leans against one fist, thoughtful. “That’s interesting.”

“Is it?” Davenport, beside her, sips his coffee. “Murderers are humans, too. Perhaps something in Angus resonated with him. There’s always someone that can find a sort of common ground with a madman.”

“It’s too early to get philosophical,” Merle grumbles, but there’s affection in his voice as he looks to Davenport. The conversation lapses into one of normalcy, as Angus tells them about various places in Rockport, and in turn asks the IPRE crew various questions about their cryptid hunting.

“Does it still count as cryptid hunting?” Barry asks, picking up his glass of orange juice. “I mean, these creatures could be considered cryptids before, but now they don’t really fit into that category.”

“You’re right,” Davenport responds. “We’re less cryptid hunters and more simply monster hunters.”

“But the documentary…” Lucretia bites her bottom lip, but Davenport just smiles at her, at everyone. 

“Whatever the documentary becomes, I will still be pleased with it. Sometimes change is necessary to create masterpieces.”

… 

Lucretia is cornered by Taako later that day, and there’s something very close to murder in his bright eyes. “We can’t let Angus go home.”

She slowly closes her laptop, lips pursed. “Why… not?”

He slams his hands down on the table across from her, making her jump as he leans in her direction. “I get that you grew up in a happy family setting, Lucretia, but some of us didn’t. Some of us, as in me and Lup, were in the foster care system like Angus, and we  _ know _ that it sucks ass. I’ve only known Angus for three days but if he goes back to that house I will blow this RV up.” There’s a pause, and then: “I’ll get Lup to blow it up. No hesitation.”

“Taako…”

“He  _ can’t. Go. Back. _ ” There’s such fervent desperation in Taako’s voice that Lucretia is genuinely surprised. She meets his eyes for five seconds, six, before finally getting to her feet. He follows her movements, but she just turns around to face him.

“I don’t even know how the foster care system works.”

His eyes flash. “But I do.”

… 

Magnus, Lup and Barry are sitting across from each other at a cafe in downtown Rockport, the massive book titled _ Legato  _ open between them. Barry’s got a journal flipped open, making notes as Lup flips through the pages. 

Magnus leans forward, reading upside down. “Are those handwritten notes?”

Lup nods. “Yeah, it looks like someone was getting philosophical in the margins. It… I mean, it makes sense, sort of? But not entirely. Someone named the Hunger is mentioned a lot, and something called a… shit where… a Voidfish.”

A thrum echoes through Magnus’ chest. “Voidfish? Is there any mention of it in the actual book?”

“Not yet. I think the Hunger and the Voidfish are supposed to mirror each other?”

Barry nods. “Whoever wrote these notes, they went on this whole tangent about how the two of them aren’t entirely dissimilar. I think the going theory for this person is that they both represent two differents sorts of antihero characters: the loved and the hated.”

Lup flips to another page, and her expression brightens. “There’s a whole chapter on the Voidfish.” She tilts the book so that Magnus can see, and they read it together.

_ Child of thought, creation of magic and mastery, the Voidfish is not one but many. They existed outside of the folds of time and space, but their truest home was within the Legato Mountain. the birthplace of our worlds truest arcane knowledge. Heralded as the deities of the arts and memories alike, musicians and artists and the likes were known to visit the caverns of the Voidfish to share their music in the hopes of having their talents spread throughout the world. _

_ A time came, though, where all but one Voidfish remained, and the disappearance of it’s family remains a mystery untouched. _

“Poor baby,” Magnus murmurs, and Lup pats his shoulder.

 

_ Legend says that all Voidfish should have vanished, and taken with them our strongest magic, but that the Protector came and saved the remaining Voidfish so that the balance of our world would remain. _

“That’s one of the birds, isn’t it?” Barry scribbles something in his journal before looking up. “The prophecy, it said one of the birds was the Protector.”

Lup nods. “Yeah…” Her expression is perplexed, and she traces the crude drawing scrawled across the page. It looks like your average jellyfish, but it’s bell has been painted with watercolors to look like the night sky. Parts of it seem to glow, speckled with stars, and it’s midnight blue tentacles appear to be wrapped around what looks like a golden wine glass. “This is one bizarre fairytale.”

“No kidding.” Magnus keeps reading.

 

_ The Balance of Legato: _

_ For balance, there must always be good and evil, but there sits a grey area between the two. And that grey area lives deep within the Legato Mountain, a set of mirrors facing each other. In the reflection of one mirror sits the Voidfish, and in the other sits the Hunger.  _

_ To break a mirror is to disrupt-- _

Lup makes a hissing sound. “Who marks out entire paragraphs of dialogue??”

Barry pulls the book in his direction, squinting through his glasses. “They did a good job of it. I can’t make anything out.” He turns the page, but the ink has bled through to obscure more passages. “I wonder why…”

Magnus hums, but he can’t come up with any actual answer. Lup skims through the rest of the book, but there are just more and more pages of words marked out, until eventually there are no pages left to read. That is, until they reach the final page.

 

_ To the Lonely Journal-Keeper, with love. _

“That’s another one of the birds.” All three of them look up at each other, sharing a gaze of wonder and confusion. There’s something far bigger than all of them happening here, something complex and woven so deeply into their fates that even though they don’t understand, they can feel it in their chests. And with that feeling comes a voice:

_ It’s beginning. The end, it’s beginning. _

… 

Merle crouches down beside Davenport, who is replacing one of the tired of the Starblaster. “You’ve been pretty quiet, buddy, is there something wrong?”

“Wrong?” Davenport twists one of the lug nuts until it’s loose before finally settling back to look at Merle. “None of this makes any sense.”

“None of…?”

“This!” Davenport gestures angrily at the Starblaster with the wrench. “I’ve proved monsters exist, I’ve got plenty of evidence so-- so why are we still doing this? What purpose does any of this serve other than us… we’re doing someone else’s job for them, and getting virtually nothing in return!”

Merle leans against the side of the Starblaster. “I’m not gonna disagree, Dav.”

Davenport lets out a long sigh, pressing his lips together. “I don’t know… I don’t want to stop, but I feel like I’m wasting my life.” He looks up at Merle, and there’s a heavy exhaustion in his green eyes. “Merle, this has been my life for so long, I-- I can’t imagine doing anything else.”

Merle reaches out, placing a hand on Davenport’s neck and pulling him forward until their foreheads are pressed together. He can’t think of anything to say, unable to find the right words to ease his oldest friend’s worries, so instead he just takes a slow breath, feeling Davenport breathe with him.

And then he smiles. “Don’t worry about it, pal. Things’ll work themselves out.”

Davenport chuckles breathlessly, a hint of red on his cheeks that Merle doesn’t fail to notice. “Yeah, I guess.”

… 

Barry’s not entirely sure how it happened, but Angus becomes a permanent fixture in the Starblaster, like all seven of them have just mutually agreed to adopt this child. He tries to ask Lucretia about it at one point but she just shakes her head. Taako’s just as hard to question: he just glares at Barry before going back to teaching Angus to make macaroons or brownies or whatever he’s in the mood to make.

It’s when they’re invited to pass through the Wall of Istus that Lucretia’s resolve finally breaks, and she chews on her thumbnail as they drive the Starblaster through the forest. Barry stands beside her between the driver’s seat and passenger’s seat, watching the anxiety flicker across her expression. 

“You’re worried about how the Wall will react to Angus.”

She gives him a tense smile. “Is it that obvious?”

“Do you really think that the Wall won’t let Angus pass through?” The entire RV jumps slightly as Davenport drives over a dip in the road and Barry braces himself on the headrest of the passenger seat, grabbing onto Lucretia’s elbow to keep her steady. She just looks over her shoulder at where Angus is playing a game of chess against Magnus and winning.

“Perhaps. I would hate to… bring him harm by coming here.”

Barry squeezes her elbow with a reassuring smile. “Don’t worry about it, Lucy.” She gives him a tired nod in response, before moving to sit in the passenger’s seat. Barry heads to the couch and plops down beside Lup, who is editing a floral ballgown onto a picture of Merle. Barry feels his face blossom into a grin. “Do I wanna know why?”

“Nope,” she replies, shoving him lightly as she moves closer to his side. There’s a smile on her face, and it makes Barry’s heart swell with affection. As they draw closer to where the Wall is, though, he feels that same anxiety Lucretia had harbored welling in his lungs, and his eyes are on Angus when they finally pass through.

Again, time seems to shatter and then stop, white threads of soft light weaving between all of them. The light seems to hesitate around the outline of Angus, but then he is enveloped, as if hugged by the light. Angus feels warmth blossom in his chest, gentle phantom lips pressing a kiss of love against his temple.

And then time awakens and they are on the other side of the Wall, the RV drifting to a slow crawl as Davenport maneuvers onto a road. And the world is bright and flooded with magic energy, and Angus is sitting there with a look of true awe on his face.

“What… just happened?”

“That, little dude--” Taako puts an arm around Angus’ shoulders, grin lazy but brimming with excitement. “--was magic.”

... 

Davenport drives them to the Battlewagon Precinct building, where Sloane is just getting off of her bike. She sweeps her long black hair  over one shoulder, offering the IPRE crew a small smile as they climb out of the Starblaster. “What brings you back here?”

Davenport adjusts his shirt as he walks up to her, grin in place. “We were invited by Carey and Killian for a, uh--”

“A lunch thing!” Magnus chimes in, chuckling as he places a hand on Davenport’s shoulder. “There’s been a recent addition to our team, as well, so we wanted to introduce him.”

Sloane tilts her head as she looks down at Angus, and Davenport looks over his shoulder to see the younger boy cowering at Lucretia’s side. Lucretia wraps a protective arm around his shoulders, chin up and smile polite but determined. Taako, standing behind him, just toys with the necklace around his throat, but he gives off an air of protectiveness that makes Davenport’s smile grow when he turns back to Sloane.

Her brow is furrowed for only a second before she smiles again, this time, sweeping an arm in the direction of the front doors of the building. “I’m sure everyone will love to meet him.”

...

Magnus is bored. He doesn’t want to be but he  _ is _ , staring blankly at the cup of chamomile tea in front of him while everyone else talks. He’s sitting by the window of the break room and finds himself staring out at the too-bright sky and the mountain. It looms, powder blue and gray in the distance, and he doesn’t realize how long he’s been staring at it until Taako punches him in the arm.

“Dude.”

Magnus looks away from the window with a groan. “I wanna get out of here.”

“Then  _ do it _ ?” Taako nudges Merle across from them, also not really paying attention, and almost without another word the three of them get up and head for the door. Davenport and Lucretia are talking to Hurley and Sloane, Barry and Lup are in their own world, and Team Sweet Flips are listening intently to a story Angus is telling. No one notices when the three of them slip out. Magnus pulls his spare set of Starblaster keys out of his pocket, swinging them around one finger.

“Think they’ll mind if we take the RV?”

Taako shrugs languidly, pulling all of his hair up into a high ponytail. “Lemme guess, we’re going to the mountain.”

Magnus doesn’t even bothering answering, which makes Merle laugh as they all climb into the RV. Merle heads for the couch and promptly falls asleep, leaving Taako to collapse sideways into the passenger seat. Every now and then as Magnus maneuvers the RV onto the road Taako kicks Magnus in the arm, a smirk on his lips.

“What’re you thinking we’ll find, big guy?” Taako asks, crossing his arms over his chest. “Riches beyond our wildest dreams?

Magnus shakes his head. “I just think it’ll be pretty. And different.”

“Boring.” Taako kicks him one more time, grabbing Lucretia’s sun hat from the dash and placing it low across his face as Magnus drives.

This other world is  _ beautiful _ , an endless expanse of trees surrounding the Legato mountain. Out of the windows Magnus sees plants of unnatural beauty, colors that exist but  _ don’t _ exist that taunt the edges of his imagination. Animals of varying sorts of magic peer at him from behind trees and boulders, their curious gazes staring endlessly at the Starblaster. Magnus would love to stop every now and then to take pictures, but he’d at least like to make it to the mountain before the others have enough time to get mad.

He reaches the mountain in record time, though, pulling up to the base of it and turning off the RV as he stands from the driver’s seat. Taako mumbles something and slowly gets up, keeping the floppy hat on as he moves to push Merle off of the couch. The older man gets up reluctantly, throwing a withering glare Taako’s way as he adjusts his hat.

“So are we really just here to look at a mountain?” Merle asks, but Magnus just looks up and up and up, until he’s not sure he can look any further. Legato Mountain is massive, looming far above into the sky. It’s sides are smooth in some places, others jutting out like ragged blue-gray teeth. Something about the mountain feels a little bit off, but not necessarily in a bad way.

“Let’s go,” Magnus chirps, grabbing a ‘safety’ bag from just inside the RV door before he locks it and turns toward the mountain.

“What are gonna do, climb it?” Taako kicks a rock, watching it hop a few inches. “Hate to break your heart, Maggie, but we don’t have the gear to climb a--”

“There’s a cave entrance over here!” Merle calls, and even Magnus has to stop at that. The two younger men turn and see Merle already at the base of the mountain, ripping away climbing ivy to reveal a crack in the side of the mountain just large enough for all three of them to fit through. It’s less a cave and more a nook, but it ignites a genuine excitement in Magnus.

Even Taako can’t hide the glimmer of interest that sparks across his face.

“How’d you see the entrance?” Magnus asks as he walks up to the crack and peers inside. It’s dark but not completely, a weird light emanating from somewhere deep within. Merle makes a noncommittal noise, and Magnus turns to see him shrugging.

“It was pretty obvious to me.”

Without much more conversation the three of them walk into the cavern. Excitement, nervousness, and dread gnaw at all of them.

… 

**notes from the** **_Legato_ **

 

_ A reflective doorway… What happens when one mirror is shattered? Does the doorway remain open? And what if it is, instead,  _ two _ doorways: a doorway to heaven and one to hell? Although perhaps these two places are not so simple as that? Perhaps it takes a complex mindset to discern the similarities and differences between what is heaven and what is hell. _

… 

The crevice eventually widens, the walls growing smooth and the floor slanting slowly upward. Light seems to come  _ from  _ the walls, and from further within the cave. It’s a luminescent blue light that wavers and shifts like it’s underwater, a fact that doesn’t make any sense. Taako keeps running his fingers over the walls, tracing the edges as he hums under his breath.

“What song is that?”

The humming stops and Magnus turns his flashlight in time to see an odd look flashing across his face. “I don’t know.”

They keep walking, except this time the path heads down, curving slightly and growing darker. Magnus’ flashlight bobs and sways as he walks, highlighting the uneven walls of the cave that seem to glitter. Merle starts saying something about plants that grow in caves, pressing his hands deep into various patches of moss they encounter. 

It’s when he mentions bats that the walkway suddenly widens, opening up into a dark cavernous space. The walls are irregularly smooth, curving upward into a sort of dome-like shape.

And, in the center of the room, sit two massive boulders. They’re almost equal in size, but it’s not until Magnus steps closer that he sees  _ why _ they’re facing one another. Two full-length mirrors are imbedded deep within the twin rocks, facing each other perfectly. Magnus remembers, vaguely, reading about these mirrors, and in his reckless nature, immediately steps into the sizable gap between the mirrors, twisting around.

“I wanna see if they do that thing where you see hundreds of versions of yourself,” he says as means of an explanation, and Taako joins him to study their reflections. Except, unlike normal mirrors, they only see singular versions of themselves, as if the mirrors aren’t reflecting into and against each other. 

“Weird,” Magnus drawls, reaching out to touch the mirror. Taako immediately reaches over and smacks his hand away from the cool glass.

“Have you learned nothing, you oaf? This could end one of two ways, and both are preeeeetty fuckin’ bad.”

“Seriously?” Magnus snaps, pulling his hand away and moving to touch the mirror again. Merle makes some movement to reach out, but Taako stops him. “It’s just glass, how scary can this b--”

His hand makes contact with the glass and he’s sucked in. An ocean of darkness consumes him, a living thing that breathes and pulses and sighs around him, inky and slick and strange. He’s being pulled, dragged down and down into the depths of something that is bigger than time itself. Bigger than existence?

Bigger.

Magnus opens his eyes, never realizing that his eyes had been closed in the first place, and what he sees makes him gasp. How he can gasp underwater--  _ is _ he underwater?-- Magnus isn’t entirely sure.

The jellyfish floating in front of him chimes, a low musical note that seems to mimic his own, human noise.

… 

What Taako saw that made him stop Merle, he never says. Maybe it was a feeling that tugged on his gut, keeping his feet firmly planted away from his friend. Or a low and sultry voice that whispered softly to him, assuring him that what Magnus was about to do was fated, was meant to be.

He’ll just say it was a faulty moment of judgement, but things are never so simple within the Legato.

… 

“What do you know about some guy named, uh, Kravitz?” Barry finds himself asking Sloane and Hurley. About ten minutes ago Magnus, Taako, and Merle ducked out, leaving everyone else to ponder as to why, exactly. Now Barry is remembering back to Taako’s constant late night rants about the ‘insufferable and ungodly attractive’ Kravitz the bounty hunter. Killian, at hearing the name, turns away from what she had been saying to Noelle with a grin on her face.

“Though he doesn’t work with us, I can say that he’s one of the best.” She leans over and nudges Carey. “Remember that first time we arrested uh… Lucas, was it? That asshole who was convinced our world was ruled by some mirrors?” They laugh, though Barry frowns.

“Mirrors?” Something about that feels familiar.

Sloane nods, tracing the rim of her cup. “There’s this book of tales, the  _ Legato _ , that says, uh… That the gods of this world rest within a pair of mirrors. But not Istus and the Raven Queen, other gods. That’s why the stories were written off-- because we  _ know _ that this world belongs to the Goddesses, and not others.”

“But do we know that?” Noelle says, her voice a bubbly chirp of noise as she teases her friends. “I mean, the stories are very enticing.”

Killian’s laugh is a loud guffaw. “Please, it’s all nonsense!”

Sloane just rolls her eyes as the larger women begin to bicker, turning back to where she now has the attention of the remaining members of the IPRE-- except for Angus, who seems thoroughly enchanted by Team Sweet Flips as they laugh and argue. 

“Kravitz is a truly wonderful person, especially when it comes to what our job is. But… Recently, I was able to talk to him, and I think I finally have a grasp on what he’s doing.” She sets her cup down and Hurley immediately picks it up. “According to his reports, which I got from the Raven Queen, he’s been hunting for a rogue changeling.”

There’s a choking sound from Barry’s left and he looks over to see Lup pressing a napkin to her face, coughing tea as she turns away from everyone. Barry rubs her back as he turns back to Sloane. “Changeling, like… those creatures that replace real children?”

Sloane nods. “He’s stating that rather than  _ replace _ the human they were meant to, this changeling has simply latched on. Like another version of this human.”

“Like, the parent went into the hospital and gave birth to one kid and went home with two?” Lucretia’ nose scrunches up as she leans back in her seat. “Surely someone would notice.”

“You’d think that, but Kravitz is convinced that… somehow they got away with it. That they somehow became another person entirely.” Sloane’s phone goes off and she promptly gets up, leaving Barry to turn toward Lup. Her eyes are wide as she stares down into her now empty glass, hands shaking as she raises it to the table in front of her.

“You okay, baby?”

Lup looks up, a smile already on her lips. “Yeah, hun, I’m all kinds of good. Guess tea isn’t my thing, though, I feel like it’s still in my lungs.” 

And she laughs, and Barry laughs, but something feels off. Like there’s a sentence that’s been cut off, and although Barry  _ thinks _ he knows how the story ends, he can’t really be sure. Maybe he doesn’t want to be sure.

…

 

A song-- no, it’s not a song. A handful of notes repeated just musically enough that maybe Magnus can convince himself that it’s the notes of a lullaby. There are words, faintly, just out of reach, but Magnus feels himself being pulled into the oceanic orbit of this strange creature that dances before him. A tentacle wraps around one wrist, and then the other, and then one gently touches a spot just between his eyebrows.

Words come to him, that faraway lullaby. Or maybe it’s not a lullaby to begin with, but an omen. A prophecy.

A promise.

…

 

Taako is rarely worried. It’s been his skill for  _ years _ to never let anything ruffle his perfectly combed feathers. Monsters lurking in the real world? Whatever. A whole other dimension through a weird portal? Old news.His best friend falling into a weird mirror in a weird bowl-shaped cave? Sounds like your average Saturday night. But when the surface of the mirror Magnus had vanished into begins to ripple, Taako feels an inkling of fear pump through him. And when a strange whisper begins to bounce around in the cavernous room they’re standing in, Taako feels his entire body tremble as he steps forward.

“We gotta get him out of there?”

“Yeah, no kidding,” Merle replies with a nervous chuckle, and they both lurch forward to reach into the mirror.

Taako will never be able to find the right word to describe reaching into the mirror, but ‘icky’ seems like a good enough fit. It’s icky and cold and not right, the texture too oily, too… Well, words aren’t Taako’s specialty. He just reaches as far as he can into the mirror, fingers scrambling for any sort of purchase until he finally feels the fabric of that insufferable ‘safety’ backpack. He knots his fingers into the fabric and  _ pulls _ , putting all of his strength into a singular thought:

_ Bring him back to me. Please, God or Istus or the fucking Raven lady, bring this stupid idiot back to me. I am not gonna lose another person in this shitty lifetime. _

And someone must hear him, because his next yank is hard enough and Magnus comes flying out of the mirror. Unfortunately, Magnus is a big guy, and Taako can only barely carry the weight. Merle, on the other hand, goes careening backwards into the other mirror. His elbow catches the corner at the bottom, leaving a jagged crack the spreads slowly upwards before coming to a rest and leaving a long line spreading outward from a cobweb of small slivers.

Magnus leans into Taako for a second, but then he stumbles away, running his hands up and down his face. “Holy shit, holy shit, hooooly  _ shit _ !”

“What?” Taako tries to ask calmly, but it comes out more like a squawk. Merle uses Taako’s arm to get up, grumbling to himself as he studies the small scratches on his forearm. Magnus just turns in several slow circles, this weird mix of awe and horror. It takes everything Taako has not to throat punch him, but then he finally talks.

“I think I just got given a prophecy by a fucking jellyfish!!”

… 

And from that crack, a darkness emerges. And from that crack, laughter blossoms like a thorny rose.

And from that crack, a smile.

… 

_ Seven birds _

_ Seven souls _

_ Feathers bright _

_ Hearts of gold _

_ From the dark _

_ They bring life _

_ Safe and sound _

_ For all time _


	8. fractured thoughts

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> ḛ̯̤̼̘̱̑͊̾̍ͬͣ͒̈́̈́̾͌̉ͪ̉͟x̸̴̲͓̫̙͔̠̲̮̲̭̤̳̖̩͌̑̓̓̿ͬ̃ͯ͘͢͟ͅi̷̧̎͊͑̒̍̇̃̒̅̋͏̩̱͚͖̪̰̮͕͚̲̙̺̞̲ͅs̭̘̖͈̳̝̟̩̾͆͛̉ͧ͆̈́͗̍t̢̮̗̞̞̜̻͖̿ͣ̄ͮͭͥ̔ͩ̐̅̅̐̐̚͠eͩ̂̓̋ͯ̉̈͋̅ͩ͏̫̱̝̮͇̹͞n̵͔̞̟̟̯̻͔̞̟̣̟̫̣̼̼̮̽ͪ̅̀ͬ̐̇̇̒̈͒̾ͭ̈ͮͦ̅̽̚͢͠ç̸̶̴̒̑̅̄ͫ̇̏̎ͮ̊̎͛ͦ̇͑͑ͬͬ̚҉̯̝͔̲͎͈̰̖̲̺̖͚͓̱ẻ́̓̊ͨ̋ͪ̔̔̎ͥ́͢҉̮̝̞̗̘͚̱̙͕̬͎̤͙̟̖̕͡ͅ ̝̻͍̒̆̓̽͗͆ͧ͑́̒́̋̔͊ͭ͜͡ị̴̛͎̬͙̜̒̅̈͑ͦ̋͆͂̃̃͝s̶̲͙̩̺̗̰̤͇͎̖͇̦̻̟̄̾̈̇͝͞ ̟̯̯̟͇͈͙̪̘̱̠̞̜͉̰ͫͣ̆̐̃͒ͤ̂͊̾̍͋́̿͆̚̕̕͝͡ͅͅş̧̩̭̙̣͔̣̮̮̦͍̭̀ͭͫ̊̌̋ͣ̇̈́͛ͫͯͧͥ̀ͫͯ̑̕͟͟ḽ̷̛̩̘͉ͨ̓ͦͤ͆̇̇͊͒ͤͦ̈́̋̋ͣ̇̀̽i̢̛͉̟͇͕͕̟͔̱͐͗ͦͯ͌̈́̌ͨ̇̇̆̓̎͗̈ͫ̀ͧ̚͡p̸̸̘̳̲̤͎̪̟̹͔̘̝͚͖̬͐̏ͭ̄ͣ͗ͪ̋ͭ́ͨ̍̎ͦ͘͝p̷̛̪̯̤͖̩͆̀͂͛ͫ͑ͫ̄̈̈́̾͟͠i̵̮̫̩͇̜̪̗̠̰̫̦̇ͮ̒ͤ̀̿ͩ̇̏ͣͣͥ̇̈́n̸̨̟͕̳̞̤̞̯̟͓̯̮̪̠͎̤̼̼̯ͥͣ̅ͨ͆̓̃̂̋̌̃̽̋̃̉̉̚̚ͅg̶͍̠̗͍̙̣͖̳̩̰͕͕̘̳̀̔̎ͦ̅͗̔ͦ̓ͪ̿͒ͬ͢ ̢̓͐ͩͤ͋̄̀̄̑̒̔͋ͨ̍̉͞͞҉̝͈̦͍͎̮͔͇̬̪͙͎͞a̡ͦ̀̏̏͒͊̏ͦ̅̚҉̺̮̱̦̦̪̙̱̫͎͙̬͞w̛͖̟̥̠̮̭̳̫̮̺̔̂̍̿̃̆̀̇̃̃͑̌ͧ͘ą̸̡͚̗̜̪̙͎͔̝͕̪͕͍͈͎̼̖͐̉̆̓y̴̔̈̆ͨͭ̈́͗̄͂͂ͩ̇͑̌̑͐̅̾͑͟͝͏̤͕̺̘̳̪͕̗̫̩͙̲̖̰͕̞̰̖ͅ

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I finally dragged myself out of the pits of hell to write this chapter and lemme just apologise in advance if it reads weird toward the end. It was hard to find a way to describe how the Voidfish is perceived on the mortal plane. 
> 
> another thing: the next chapter is less of a chapter and more of a small scene that would be part of this if I wasn't so desperate to get something out into the world!!! it's just some taakitz nonsense, hopefully y'all will like it!!

Returning to the Battlewagon Precinct leaves Taako feeling unexplainably tired, so he’s pleased when he walks into the building and Lup makes a beeline for him. She slides up against his side and he wraps his arm around her shoulders as she nestles into his neck. She’s done this since they were little, whenever things became too much and she needed the comfort. Taako leans against her in return, smiling against her temple for a second before she looks up again. 

Barry is watching them with a thoughtful gaze, but when his eyes meet Taako’s he looks down with a frown. Taako feels curious for a moment, only to sigh and glance away. Their relationship isn’t any of his business, even though the nosy part of him wants desperately to know what happened while he was away.

If Barry upset Lup…

Taako’s thoughts don’t get the chance to go down that vengeful path before Lucretia is standing up as well, hands on her hips like a disappointed mother. “Where were you guys? We’ve been waiting to leave for an hour!”

_ An hour? _ They left barely 30 minutes ago, and were only in that cave for five minutes… right? Magnus looks confused as well, reaching up and scratching behind his ear. “An hour? It-- It couldn’t have been that long, the mountain isn’t  _ that _ far from--”

“The mountain is over two hours away, you went  _ there _ ?” Hurley’s eyebrows are drawn tightly together as she looks to Sloane. Sloane, in turn, studies her cup of tea with a scowl before shaking her head.

“Yes, that doesn’t make any sense. Maybe we all just lost track of time?”

Lucretia sighs, hands falling to her sides. “Yeah, I guess.”

Everyone says their goodbyes and the IPRE crew heads for the RV. Somehow Taako ends up giving his sister a piggyback ride, Lup directing him away from Barry. Inside the RV the twins take one of the laptops and curl up together in Lup’s bed, using a pair of earphones to watch  _ The Labyrinth _ for probably the millionth time. There’s  _ something _ wrong, something just out of place, but Taako doesn’t… he won’t get involved. This is Lup’s to deal with, and if he tries to intervene she’d just puff up at him and most likely set his laptop on fire.

Again.

… 

 

“So you want a tattoo of… a mermaid.”

The big guy nods, gesturing to the only empty space on his arm. Johann lets out a slow breath as he leans across the counter, studying the exposed skin and trying to envision the perfect mermaid to go there. Maybe he can have the tail wrap around the anchor just below that space… If the color scheme is sunset colors it might fit with the other tattoos…

He leans back with a slow grin, nodding his head. “Avi will be right with you.”

The rest of the afternoon passes just as slow and mundane, and since there are already plenty of artists working today Johann just stays at the front counter and doodles jellyfish into the margins of his Music History notes. The beginning notes to a song are scribbled alongside the jellyfish, the opening to a song he doesn’t quite remember.

As if summoned by his thoughts that song begins to play through his mind, a low hum that builds until Johann can’t even hear the music playing in the speakers anymore, every inch of him flooded with those same seven notes played over and over and--

Johann barely has time to back away from the counter before his eyes roll back in his head and he collapses on the floor. He briefly hears someone yelling his name before everything fades into static and that  _ fucking _ song.

And then, he sees that jellyfish again, except this time a name comes to him: Voidfish.

This is the Voidfish, and it has returned to him with a single message:  _ it has begun _ .

… 

 

Closing the tattoo shop was not something Avi thought he would be doing at three in the afternoon on a Tuesday, but having one of the artists pass out in the middle of the waiting area isn’t exactly good for business.Avi contemplated calling 911 for a few minutes there, but then Johann wakes up enough to speak, his words leaving Avi chilled to the bone.

“The end,” Johann mumbles, head lolling to the side. “It’s come.”

“What the fuck?” Avi heard himself whisper, pulling out his phone. Except, instead of calling for an ambulance Avi found himself calling Magnus. He picked up on the first ring.

“Avi, what’s up babe?”

“I-- uh…” Panicked, suddenly, Avi just holds the phone up to Johann’s mouth.

“Void… fish,” Johann whispers, which makes no sense to Avi but must mean something to Magnus because he gasps loudly. Avi returns the phone to his ear.

“So, my best friend is lying semi-conscious in the middle of La Victoire, making absolutely no sense, and I didn’t know who to call and I mean, I didn’t  _ mean _ to call you it just-- I just kind of  _ did  _ without thinking, but--”

“No, no, it’s fine!” Magnus says, too loud, before shouting away from the microphone. “Dav, we gotta go back to Rockport!” He returns and his voice is softer. “We’re about an hour out, think you’ll be fine until then?”

“Yeah, uh… Sure.”

“Good, nice!” Someone says something on the other end and Magnus makes a lot of shushing noises before saying, “I’ll text you when we’re close.”

“O… kay.”

Avi’s pretty sure he can  _ hear _ Magnus smiling. “If he wakes up make him some tea, okay?”

Avi runs his hands through Johann’s hair as he smiles. “Yeah. Chamomile, right?”

“Mhm…” There’s a pause, and then Magnus sighs. “Okay, I definitely need to go, I’ll-- yeah, about 40 minutes. He’ll be fine.”

“Sure. Please hurry.”

“We will, love you!”

Avi almost drops the phone, but before he can get out his stuttering response Magnus has already hung up, leaving Avi to just stare, dumbfounded, down at his half-awake friend. “Holy shit, Jo, he just…  _ fuck _ .”

…

 

Lucretia pushes open the hospital doors seconds before Magnus barrels in, their arrival loud enough to make several people turn and stare. There’s an apology on the tip of Lucretia’s tongue, but then Magnus is taking her hand and pulling her toward a man with sandy brown dreads and a pleasantly smiling face. He hugs Magnus back when the big guy comes up to him, looking up at Magnus with a soft smirk.

“Nice beard.”

Magnus chuckles, pulling back to rub a hand across his five o’clock shadow. “Yeah, I’ve, uh… been busy lately.” He puts an arm around the man and turns to face Lucretia. “Avi, this is basically my best friend in the entire world. Lucretia, this is Avi, he’s the tattoo artist at La Victoire."

Lucretia waves a shy hand, the other shoved deep into the pocket of her jacket. “Hey. Magnus has talked about you a lot.”

Avi’s cheeks redden considerably as he looks up at Magnus. The big guy is staring intently at one of the leather bracelets around his wrist, as if it’s the most interesting thing in the world. “That’s good to know. He talks about you, too. It’s nice to meet you, Lucretia.”

“Nice to meet you too. Where, uh, where is your friend? Johann?”

That wipes the smile from Avi’s face, and his shoulders slump a bit as he points over his shoulder. “This way. Follow me.”

Magnus shoots Lucretia a look but she just follows Avi down one of the hospital halls and into a large room holding a single white bed. The curtains are thrown open to let in the soft afternoon light, and there’s a vase of violet flowers on the nightstand beside the bed. The man in the bed has his black hair all pulled up into a sloppy ponytail, face ashen and half-awake as he taps his fingers across the railing of the bed like it’s the keys to a piano. At Avi’s soft cough he looks over, and Lucretia is caught off guard by the surreal and unnatural blue of his eyes. Not blue like normal blue eyes, but blue like  _ electricity _ , blue like an iceberg, so blue they seem to glow. But then he blinks and the color seems to shift and swirl and Lucretia sees hints of purple and flashes of gold, his eyes a galaxy.

Magnus makes an awed noise before walking forward. “What’s up with your eyes, man?”

“Mag--” Lucretia begins to hiss, but then Johan laughs, and it comes out garbled and sharp with static, and she stops moving entirely. Avi looks completely freaked out, arms wrapping tight around his waist as he steps further into the room and shuts the door.

“He’s been like that since we got him here. The doctor’s are trying to come up with explanations, but… I don’t think there is one. He-- He mentioned a… Voidfish? It was weird, and then  _ this _ happened, which is also weird. I don’t--” Avi presses his hands to his temples as he sits down, and Magnus places a heavy hand on his shoulder. 

“Don’t worry yourself too much. Did he say anything else?”

Before Avi can answer Johann stops laughing, turning his galaxy eyes to Magnus. “T̨h҉̶̡e͢͞ ̴͢e̴n҉d͢͟,̨͠ ̵͠i͡҉t̨͟’̧s c̨o̵m̡͝͞e̢.”

Magnus makes a choked noise, turning to Lucretia as he points at Johann. “People don’t make that sound. That’s very much not a human sound.”

“No… no, it’s not.” Lucretia walks slowly toward Johann’s bed, placing a hand against the sheets as she leans toward him. “Can you explain what that means, ‘the end, it’s come’?”

Johann laughs again, but it sounds slightly more human. “They told me… that something has begun. That an end and a beginning are in sight.”

There’s a small moment of silence before Magnus snaps his fingers, and Lucretia turns to see a bright expression on his face. “I knew I recognized that name!”

“What name?” Avi asks, sitting up.

“Voidfish! Lu, it’s the thing from the Legato. The Voidfish mirrors the Hunger, or something like that. But… I don’t know why Johann would be dreaming about the Voidfish, unless he’s got some kind of connection to--” And then he looks down at Avi, hesitant to finish his sentence. Avi sees that hesitance and shakes his head.

“Don’t do that. Whatever this is, it involves my best friend. I want to help him.”

“Of course.” Lucretia glances at Johann before turning back to the other two men. “Avi, recently we acquired a job that is more… magical than what most perceive. There is another reality coexisting next to our own, and in that reality there exists two, um… deities, I guess. And one of them is the Voidfish.”

“I met them! Yeah, they’re really cute, and they sang this song, this--” Johann begins to hum, a weak murmur of a sound that makes Magnus laugh. “Yeah, that! Well, there were words, but it was basically the same so--”

“You met the Voidfish? When?” Lucretia’s brows draw together as she frowns, turning to look at her friend. He pauses in thought for a second, but then shrugs one shoulder. 

“When we went to the mountain. Yeah, we… we found a cave.”

“I think we need to get back to the Starblaster, figure all of this out.” Lucretia worries at her bottom lip with her thumb, eyes narrowing in thought as she looks down at Johann. He doesn’t appear to be in any pain, his eyes alert though exhausted. Every few seconds he makes a sound like the crackle of a radio, but aside from that he appears perfectly fine. “I suppose we’ll have to get your friend out of here, first, Avi. Can you take care of that? And then perhaps drive us to the RV park? We took the bus here, and it would be silly to take Johann on public transport, so…”

Avi makes a noise of confirmation and heads out the door, leaving Magnus and Lucretia alone to stare down at Johann’s drowsy eyes and barely-there expression. Then Lucretia looks up at Magnus, pursing her lips. “Why didn’t you mention to Voidfish?”

He shrugs slowly, nose crinkling in embarrassment. “It slipped my mind! I’m sorry, Lucy…”

Lucretia can’t find it in her to be even a little bit annoyed, but that’s an effect Magnus typically has on people. She leans back against the hospital bed with a sigh, patting gently at the blanket just a few inches from Johann’s limp hand. He turns in her direction just barely, hand tightening around the blanket before he gently releases it. “I feel like we’re stumbling into something that’s…”

“Awesome?” Magnus offers. “I mean, we have a magical alternate reality, escaped monsters, and a giant universe jellyfish. It’s pretty fucking cool, you gotta admit.”

“No…” Lucretia studies Johann’s eyes as he studies the ceiling. “Johann, can you hear me?” He nods slowly. “Has this sort of thing happened before?”

Johann pushes himself up on the blankets, looking slowly between Lucretia and Magnus. His eyes are unfocused and glazed, but he still eventually settles on the space near Lucretia’s right shoulder. “I just thought it was a weird dream, because I was exhausted. I’m… not sure…” And then his voice makes that inhuman static noise, wordless syllables spilling from his mouth as he tries to speak. Magnus frowns and steps closer to the bed, placing a hand on Johann’s shoulder as if to comfort him. Immediately Johann’s body goes rigid, neck arching back slightly as he shudders and jolts under Magnus’ touch. Lucretia pushes herself to her feet and tries to drag Magnus away from Johann, but it’s as if his hand is glued to Johann’s shoulder.

And then, a sound echoes through the room, like the vibrating hum of the lowest notes of an organ, and everything goes still. Lucretia’s heart hammers out a drumbeat in her chest but she cannot find any solid thing to focus on anymore. It’s as if the edges of time and matter have dissolved together into nothingness, creating a warped surrealistic painting of reality.

A voice mumbles into her thoughts but she cannot make out the words. They are loose syllables strung together, sounds bouncing off of one another in a hectic sort of way. She tries to find Magnus in the unexplainable haze, but his form is sparks of fire against a melting beige backdrop, his eyes twin black holes.

“M͏͝a̡҉̵̨͜g͢n͏̶̵̢u̵̡͜s͜?̕͜” She tries to say, but her voice is more static than  _ voice _ , and it invokes a sense of fear in her that she’s not sure she’s ever felt before. It’s a fear so tangible that at first she does not notice the other entity in the room until it places one celestial tendril against her shoulder. Lucretia turns with the movement and finds herself looking up at a jellyfish that stands out against the blur of the world, seemingly absorbing all of existence around itself. Her mouth hangs open in awe as she tries to comprehend the sight of this creature.

“W̸̴͝h̶͟͏a̢̢t͡ ҉͜a҉̕r̴̨̢͝e̢͞ ҉̨҉y҉̧o͡͞u҉͏̡?͡͏͡͠” This creature does not answer, so much as show her: this is the Voidfish, a deity of the Planes and collector of history. And they fear something malignant has been set free of it’s prison, and the birds of legend might be the only ones that can save all of existence. Lucretia scowls and feels it pulse through her entire body. “T̨̧h̵̨͘e̴ ̨͟b̡̧͟i͏r͞d̸̢͡͏s̷.̢͝.̶̴.͜͠͝҉ ̢͜͡f̷͜͠͞r̶̶͡͡o̶͘͏m̷ ͜t͢͏̢h̵̵̡̢e̴̷̢̕͡ ̶̷Ļ͢҉e̛̕͢͢g̛͢͞a͜t̶͏ǫ̷?̴ Ḑ͘o̢͢͜ ̶̨y̕͝͏̢o͘͏̢̕͞u̡̕̕͏ ̡̛t̸͘͟͝h̸͢i̷̡̨n̛͠ķ̡̛͞ ̢͢҉͡I̶͘̕͢'̸͞͏̵m̢͟͝ ͏̶͟o̴͢n̵̵͡e̵̡͠ ͘o̵͟͞͠f҉ ̵͘͘͞t͢͠h̵̷̨e҉̸͏m̸?̸̵̵͝͏” 

Somehow, the Voidfish nods, and then I̗̜͉͚͕̥͞ͅ ̨̤̼s̳̼̲͚a̶͉̟͙̯w̱̱̮̲̦͖̮͍̕ ̥̝̲̘̘̤̕̕a̴̝̭̤̼̠͖̭l̫̼̟̘͓͎̹̲l͉̳̻̳̜͡͡ͅ ̢̪͍͓͇̤̱̘̖͞͝o҉̞͔̦̞̱f̯̙͕̲̲̩ͅ ͕̣͉͡e͏̮̪x̴͓̻̬̱̫̤̱i̶̦s̤͈̻͇͍̖̳t̸̫͎̼̺͞e̷͈̘̱n̸̤̤̙͝c̣̟̻̙̬̳̯ͅͅe̶͍͙ ̡͕̦a̛͚̼͇̞̳͜l̢̹̮̜̦̫l̠̲̬̙̩̗͍̝͓͡ ̵͓̳̼̣͈̱̥͇a̴̛̫͔t͢҉̟̙̻̠̝͔̩̹̹ ̵̱̲̩͖͢o̴̞̮̖͢n̛̜͓͉̺̟c̸̤̺e̵̻.̟̺̮͟͡ ̙͚͞͡I̵̙̳ ̴͚̟̠̰̠͡͡s̜͈̣͜a̦̺͓͎̘̞͟͜͡w̲͕̳͚̖͎̜̦͜͞ ̵̟̗͝͠a̴̦͓̞̪̠̙̭̭̫ ͇̳̠̟̯d͕͖͈̪̭̬̦a͔͎̟͕̼̩̣̝͎͝r̵̠͙̳̠ͅk̬̗͇̘̻͕̯͈ ̢̨͖̪̦͡s̟̟̞̖͜ͅt̨̢͚̱̟o҉̺̲͜͠r̦̦̗͓̣̭͇ṃ̢̧͖̺͔,̸̟̤̗͠ ̛͏̧̤a̡̛̠̤̬̲͞ ̙̟̪̙̖l͇̥̙͚̙̩̖̗̺͜i̸̵̗̞̺̮͕̠̙ͅv̢͖͔̼͢͝i̴̯̳͕̬̦̩̰̪ṉ̭̳̼͞ͅg̷̕͟ͅ ̥͈̣̘̖h͍̥̱͖̝u̙̖̗̙̜̹̭̺̪n̗̬̘̲͉ͅg̮̱͍̮̟ͅe̵͇͙͈̮r̶̩̜̮ ̜͎̤̟̰̰e̢̪͍͕̥̫̗͠ͅa̸̡̞͈t̸̖͔̣̼į̲̯̼͇̣ņ̷̗̙͔ͅg҉̡̠̖̮̫ ̮̠̩̟͈i̵͓̞͔t̢̛̯̦̺ͅ ̷̴̰f̶̻̥̣̜̦͎̻r̴̛͍̗̝͉̠̣̟͈̣̕o̻̻̪͖̙͔̘̯m̹̼̳̣̠̳̯͔̯͟͝ ̸̡̣͔͎̪̞̳̥͔w͙̝̮i̙͚̭̗̠̜̭͜͞ț̶̷͞h̶̙̩i̜͖̤͘͘n͕̼̭̫̣.̥̩̻̤̯̺͚͕̠ ͓̭B̢̢̻̥̬̺̼u͔͈͘t̯̘̻͚̳̗͇̼͠ ͏̺̠̗̜̺̬̘̳̘I͓ ͕̯s̴̗͍̳̠̙͇̝̠̕a̛̱͇w̧̛͖̟͙̦̖̖̙̱͟ ̠̰͙̱̺͝a̧̧̩̣̦̹̗ ̡̟̭̗͉͚̯̝b̸̷̪̤̘͚̤r̷̮͖̲̞̯̳̯̬̕i̛͏̮͓̖͓̝͇ͅl̨̞͙͈̱̪͖̗̝ͅl̸̷̺̪̲̫i̜͓a̱̬̠̝̠̫̳͈͜n̢̡̛̪̙̬̞̗ț̢̦̥̻̳͝ ͏̦̬̰͙l̸̺̥͓̦̳͉̫̭̝͜i͏̛̞̺͕̦̖̩̫̼̙g̰̞̼̘̬̩͖͝ḩ͏̫̘̤̻̲t̢̖̭̟ ̵̝͔̭̦̺͚̣͝h̼̮͍̬͎̕e̛̟̭̜̬r̴̮̻̫̝a͏͇̙̯̟l̵͎̤̣͍͍d̠̦͍ę̙͓̞̺̲͉̮̠d̰̮̝ ̪̙̩̥b̶͓͍̜͙y̻̞̟̯̼̳̕͝ ̴̸̞̩͚̯̜̗s͉̩͚͙̘̲͠e̼͚͢v̘̙̹̜̕e͏̢͍̙̲͍͍̟͉̙n̢̧͇ ̻̙͖̺͈͝͠b̩͈̫̫̩̠̖͈͖͡͞͡i͇͖̻r̡̘̰͓͕̬̟͢d̴̖͍s͚̬͈̦̟̰̯̪͜,̴̛̹̲̲ ̧̹̱̣̺f͎̬l̸͓y̗͖͉͞i̜̹͝n͈͢g̭̼ ̸̥̪̹t̹̗̮̝̟̤͙͞i͈̮ŗ̴͎̫͍͉̱͚͙̙ͅe̡̥͎l͍̩̺͓̳͇̰͞ȩ̶͖͟s̶̶͈̫̜̠̥͕̳̠̲͞s̡̜͙l̬͉̲̤̘̜̦̯͘ͅy҉̧̤̝̞̲̤̠͎̱ͅ ̨͇͎f͔͝r̩͓̞o͏͖̮͎̭̖͍͈̹͖m̡̛̝͓̫ ̨̬̯͚̭͔͙̫͘͝ͅt̪̰̣͇̤̕h̵̨̦̭̣̪e̤̜̦͉̲̬͠ ̪͎s̙̯̭̱̝͘̕ͅț̨̰̘̻͔̠͜ơ̟̱̻̗̱̲̥͝ŗ͉̯̗̤͔̲̲̬̕m̶͎͉͢.̺͍͞ ̦̦͍̣͖̺͠I̵̲̗̕ ͙̝̣̗̗͜s̸̡̤̪͕̰a̸̜̙̼̪w͇̻̬̱̝͡ ̡̱͔s͈̲̰̯̥̣̩͢͟e͜͏̣̤̠v̩̻̘͚̲̖e҉͎̻̻̻̭̫̱͍n͓̰͇̱͢͡ ̼̬̦͍̱̞͚̝͝b̼̪̦̠̺̫͖̳͘͝i̛̬̙̮̤̠͍̣r̟̙͔͎̕͝d̘̙̩̼͇̠̺͘͠s̜͝:͡͏̣̩͎̗̭ ̟̻͉̤ţ̶̹̤̟h͉̗̺͉̪͉e̗͚̙̟͚̼ ̠̘̩T̶̵̛̖̗̘̰̤̖̠w̬̠̭̩̟̳̹͕į͙̤͙͍n̩͇̹̦̤͍͎͕ṣ͎͚ͅ,̖̮̮̬̘̗͞ ͓͉̦̳̮̦̲ͅt̷̶͙̫̳̲̞͢ḫ̢̙̲̹͜ͅe̸̼ͅ ̟͓L͈͓͍̫̤̟͞o҉̦͚͇̖͖̟̙͝v͏̴͉͇͎̦̱ȩ̦̲̰̪͔r͍̬̘͔̟̮̩̗̕͠,̧̻͔͈͖͚̺ͅ ͍̖̻͇ṭ̨̱̫̬̻̩̙͔h̷̶̤̤̫͙̹͈̹̠͝e͏̶̼̫̜͇ ̷̬͙͚͟͠P͍r͙̳̘̝̝͘o̸͚̬̫̤͍͇̠t̵̪̙̣̮̬̬ͅe̷̝̝̮̰ç̴̗͍̫̺͓̝t̬̻̞o̤̙͙̭̝̱r͙̣̟̳̻,̡̖̫̝͖ ̛̻̺̺̬̱ͅt̴̛̼̝͓͟h̛̲̠̼e̴̩̙̹͇̙͖̳̜̰ ̹̠̩̭̩̠͕͈̕͝L͖̞̱̺o̸̫̜̗͔̙͉n̴̢͎̤e̶̮̝̜̩̟ḻ̷̸̠̮̳͇̯̤y̮͚̲͝ͅ ̸͕̫̥̱͖̕J̭̹̗̪͞ͅo͉͇̻̗͈͇͉̙͝u̬̥͇̣͢r͓͙̜͙̫̤͔͇̟n̛͍̰a̬͈̖͔͔̤͕͠͞l͏̮̞͔̳̦͖-̝̯̼̳̻̕͠k̵̟͔͖̱̤̪͚e̳̭͙̭e̶̻̳̣͉͙̫̖͔̱͟p͉̜̣͚͠e̴̢̼̗̟̺ŗ̴̦͇̣͎̥̹͡,̶̵̘̗̹̖̜͙͍̕ ̸̴̴̦͔͍͓t̷̢̙͉̬͖͎̗̗͞h͚̮̯̪̱e̶͍͈͉̼ͅ ̡̙͚̜̗̘͉P҉̮̱̱̫̞͓͇͝ͅe̷͉͎̱̮̦a̸̛̯̦͍̖̲̕ͅc̯̤̻̮̱̕e̢̮̠̣̰̬̭̦̣m͓͍͎͟a̮̱̫̬̪̫k̬̺͞e͓͘r̴̬͚͠,̵̦̞̫͕̭ ͍͙̖̫̦͖̰͠ͅa̷̟̺͙̮͇̰̪͈͟n̡̻̘̗͜d҉҉̳̝̻̮̘ͅ ͓͙̜̖̗͞ͅt͉̲͍͎̙͇̙̳͜h̬͇̳̫̺̱͢͠e̫̺̲̱ ̘̣̗̣̳͚̼͈̮W̱̪̳̪̦ͅͅo̩̮͎̼͎͞ṛ̷̩̘̦̥̠̝̱d̪͍͉͕͎͔̹͕̠͡l̘̖̟͈̟̻̞͟ͅe̸͏̙̝̬ͅs̭̖͉͇̲̙̖͘͡ș̴̨̺̹̲͙̣͓̲ ̢̘̜̙̠͉̣O͈̥̟͈̠͈̣n̡̹̥̯̺̗̫͜e̵̵̩̝̝͕̟͕.̶̗̖͓

 

“Lucretia?”

Lucretia blinks and she’s sitting on the couch in the RV, Taako waving one of his hands in front of her eyes as everyone else is looking at her with varying degrees of worry. Magnus, sitting to her left, makes a weird noise in the back of his throat, and she looks over to find that he’s paler than he normally is, eyes dancing all around the room like, he, too, is trying to remember how they got there. Because wasn’t Lucretia just in the hospital? Avi had left to check Johann out of the hospital, and then---

Then, what?

Avi and Johann are sitting at the booth, Johann slumped against the table but looking more lively than he had in the hospital. His eyes meet Lucretia’s and it’s like he’s trying to tell her something that she’s not understanding. 

Taako snaps in Lucretia’s face and she swats his hand away, laughing nervously. “Sorry, I think I zoned out. What were you saying?”

Angus is the one that answers, feet kicking as he swings them from his perch on the booth’s table. “We were trying to piece together what happened at the mountain and what happened to Johann. Obviously it’s tied to the Legato but so much of the book is missing that not even I can make sense of it.”

“The Voidfish and the Hunger,” Barry says softly, and Lup glances up at him before nodding.

“Merle mentioned the mirrors in the mountain. I think that was the definitely the mirrors in the book. So when Magnus passed through he met, like, the  _ actual _ Voidfish.”

Suddenly Barry claps his hands together before turning to Lup. “I think I know who some of the birds are.” He turns to everyone else, gesturing to Magnus. “Mags is obviously the Protector. Not only is he the biggest and strongest, but he’s also the one that the Voidfish called to first and-- babe, where’s my journ--” Lup hands him a notebook from the table that Angus passes to her, and he quickly flips it open as he places a kiss against her temple. “Thanks. Okay, yeah. In the Legato, it’s mentioned that the Protector saved the final Voidfish, so it would make sense for that to be the first bird they call out to.”

Magnus sits up a bit taller, and Lucretia looks up to see him beaming at the idea. Before she can speak, Barry continues. “Taako and Lup, you guys are the Twins.”

“Duh,” Taako replies.

Barry just chuckles. “It’s the last few that don’t make sense: the Peacemaker, the Lover, the Wordless One, and the Lonely Journal-Keeper.”

Finally, Lucretia speaks. “This is assuming that  _ we’re  _ the birds. But what if we’re not?”

“There’s seven of us,” Barry says, like that answers everything. Lucretia makes it a point to gesture to the three other people in the room, and he shrugs. “Okay, yes, there are a few more involved, but from the beginning there were  _ seven _ , and there are seven birds. Also, Magnus  _ did _ meet the Voidfish, so…”

“I just… I don’t know.” Lucretia tries to find words to explain her worries, but all she can find is static. “I… okay, so we’re birds. How are we going to find out who the other birds are?”

“Trial and error?” Merle offers. “For one, I think the Lover suits me.” And he winks at Davenport, who just shakes his head and laughs. Barry also shakes his head, but there’s just horror in his eyes.

“There is something about that statement that feels very wrong, and I think it’s the fact that you could be my dad.”

“I take offense to that statement--” Merle starts, but Lucretia silences him by waving her hands frantically in the air. She’s got nothing to add to the conversation, just a sudden feeling that the direction of this conversation is not the direction it should be heading in. Then she looks to Johann again, trying to translate that unreadable glint to his gaze and finding nothing. 

“I think… we all need to visit the mountain,” she finally says, and to her surprise everyone nods in agreement, as if they were just waiting for her to make the call.


	9. hold your breath, carry the world

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> kravitz does a cool thing with his scythe, barry and lucretia reach separate understandings, lup gives avi the rundown on the IPRE crew, and a man is starving.

Midnight comes and Taako finds himself to be the only one in the Starblaster still awake. Avi and Johann are asleep on the couch, which has been pulled out into a bed, and Angus is curled up in the driver’s seat with the Legato drooping from his lap. The air hums with the various snores of his friends, a noise that Taako enjoys most sleepless nights and yet right now all he wants is silence. He takes the Legato from Angus’ lap and and pushes the chair down so that the smaller boy can stretch out, putting the book on the dash so that he can find it when he wakes up.

Then, pulling on one of Magnus’ oversized hoodies, Taako hops out of the RV and quietly shuts the door, looking out into the trees surrounding this small clearing. The sky is a soft shade of blue that melts into black and specks of stars every now and then round and white as it shines down on Taako. He uses the light of the moon as he begins to follow a narrow dirt path through the trees, not really going anywhere. He just wants to get away.

It’s not that anything is inherently wrong. Sometimes Taako just needs to be alone, genuinely alone, long enough to take a breath. When he and Lup were going through the foster system, it was hard to find a moment alone sometimes, or it was  _ too _ easy to be alone, because no one cared enough to fill the vacancies.

There would be long periods where no one cared enough to care about them, which is why Taako jumped at the chance to accompany Davenport and the others on this trip, but he is still Taako, and unlike Lup he needs to be alone on occasion.

Speaking of Lup… Taako’s mind wanders to the odd air between Barry and Lup now, the way Barry sometimes stares a bit too hard. Ever since Legato, it’s been like Barry is worried about the two of them, which doesn’t make sense because neither of them have done anything… Well, Taako can’t truthfully end that sentence because the two of them have collectively done  _ a lot _ wrong, but at least nothing that affects Barry. Right?

Taako doesn’t realize how deep into his thoughts he is until a low chuckle rumbles through the forest and he almost falls onto his ass with the shock of it. He looks around for the source of the sound, and at first he sees nothing. The trees stretch on into infinity like skeletal shadows, but then a shape melts from the gnarled darkness and becomes a handsome face, a fitted suit, one gloved hand gripping the staff of a massive scythe.

“Kravitz,” Taako says quietly, and the other man chuckles, golden eyes flickering as he looks away. Those irises seem to glow, granting a small aura of light to the world around them. Taako has an inkling that staring too deeply into those eyes could be as blinding as staring into the sun. He watches as Kravitz leans his scythe against the tree, stepping forward to offer Taako a hand. He’s hesitant to accept it, but when he does he’s surprised by how cold those gloves are. It’s more than just the chill of leather: it’s a bone-deep cold, like beneath the gloves his hands are made of shards of ice.

As soon as he’s standing Taako pulls away with a short laugh. “You coulda told me that night we met that you were a bounty hunter, my dude.”

“You know?” 

“Yeah, all the ladies in Goldcliff were chatting you up.”

“Well, I suppose that’s good to know.” Kravitz looks toward his scythe, toward the sky, before finally letting his eyes settle on Taako again. “Why’re you wandering around in the forest, Taako? Don’t people typically sleep at this hour?”

Taako snorts at that, leaning against the nearest tree and doing his best to ignore the rough feeling of the back against the backs of his arms. “ _ Boring _ people, yeah. Why are  _ you _ out here, that’s a better question.”

At this the other man makes a small noise in the back of his throat, tugging on his gloves as he looks toward the ground. At first he doesn’t answer, so Taako lets the silence grow and elongate between the two of them like a very large, filmy spider’s web. That is to say, there’s  _ no way in hell _ Taako is about to be the first one to break the silence, so he just studies the golden-hued silhouette of Kravitz’s face as the he flounders for some semblance of sense.

Then, he says, “Our first meeting had a very abrupt end and I-- Well, I wanted to see you again.”

“You wanted to… see me again?” 

“I… I suppose that’s not a very good reason to be lurking outside of your RV, but… well, you--” Kravitz’s purses his lips and looks away. “I’m not going about this very well, am I?”

Taako tugs on the sleeves of Magnus’ hoodie, shrugging his shoulders. “I’d be able to answer that question if I knew what you were trying to accomplish, dude.”

“I’m… wondering if you’d be willing to get a drink. With me. At… any point?” Kravitz’s speech is broken and stuttering, but Taako doesn’t miss a word of it. His entire face begins to heat up, lips falling apart into an expression of awe that he quickly tries to temper.

“A drink?”

“Y’know. Wine, beer? Or literally anything, I’m not picky.”

They both look like idiots, now, Taako trying not to grin and Kravitz looking at anything except him, like they’re two dumb teenagers and a high school romance. But then Taako steps up, having to look up just to see into Kravitz’s eyes. “I think I’d like that.”

“Yeah?” Kravitz grins, golden eyes flickering a faint red for just a second as he leans closer to Taako. “Y’know, there’s something about you… it’s like I know you from somewhere.”

“Well, we  _ have _ met before, so.”

“No, no, I know, just…” And then his nose scrunches up slightly, lips tilting in a shy smile. “I don’t want to risk sounding like an absolute tool, but… I feel completely drawn to you. Is that weird?”

“I’ve heard weirder, bounty hunter,” Taako teases, reaching out to smooth down one of the lapels of Kravitz’s suit. At least, he tells himself that’s what he’s doing, even though he knows fully well that he’s just looking for a reason to touch. “How will I find you for this… date?”

“Well, I could always find you, but…” Kravitz pulls back from the touch slightly, digging a sleek black phone out of his pants pocket. “Just because I’m from a different world doesn’t mean I don’t appreciate the technology of this one.”

“Gnarly.” Taako takes the phone extended to him, quickly typing in his number before slowly handing it back. Kravitz is leaning close, so close that if Taako just leaned forward a few centimeters more, he might be able to snag a kiss. But just as he’s ready to throw dignity out the window Kravitz jumps to attention, gold eye flaring as he whips around. Taako immediately reaches out to touch his arm, worry beating rhythmically in his chest. “Kravitz, what--”

“There’s something… I need to go.” Kravitz pulls away, swiftly grabbing his scythe and swinging it into a dramatic arc so that it settles onto his shoulders when he turns to face Taako. His smile is apologetic, but he says nothing else as he gives him a two-fingered salute, the scythe coming down again in a circular swing.

By the time it comes full circle, Kravitz is gone, and the creak of the woods is overshadowed by a sudden, too-human laugh filling the air. Not just one laugh, but two, mingling together to create some sort of discordant noise that chills Taako to his bones. Tugging on Magnus’ hoodie, Taako quickly turns and rushes back toward the RV, heart thumping with exhilaration and fear in equal parts.

**…**

 

A couple hours later Taako is woken from his patchy sleep by a text message, one that allows a sleepy half smile to creep across his face.

_ I solemnly swear no monsters will come to eat you in your sleep. I’ll text you later with the when and where. _

And then:

_ I am very excited. _

“Dork,” Taako whispers to himself, before simply responding with a flurry of winking and grinning emojis, and whatever other emojis his tired fingers stumble across.

**…**

 

“Lucretia, can I ask you a question?”

Lucretia looks up from her laptop, fingers poised in the middle of writing the words  _ venerable arrogance _ as she tilts her head in Barry’s direction. He’s reading a book Sloane had given to him, one detailing changelings and other fey creatures, and Lucretia is surprised to note he’s already left several pages bookmarked by a colorful array of sticky notes.

Saving her document and slowly shutting her laptop, Lucretia offers him a smile. “Of course. What is it?”

“If you knew a really bad secret about someone, would you tell them that you knew?”

“Well…” Lucretia pushes her laptop aside, leaning forward across the table. “I think it depends on how bad the secret is. If it’s something painful to them, it might be a touchy subject to bring up, unless you knew it was harmful to them. Then you might need to find the softest way to deliver the blow. If it’s criminal, then…” She reaches up and rubs at her cheek in thought. “I’m not sure.”

“What if it’s both? Or… I guess it could be both.” He takes off his glasses, chewing on one of the ends as he glares down at the cover of the book. Lucretia feels like she should know, on some level, what it is that he’s contemplating, but the answers are just outside of her reach.

He says no more, eventually going back to his book with a small smile and a sigh. Lucretia attempts returning to her story, but just as Barry is getting up to go outside Johann is coming in and sliding into his seat. He looks a lot better today, eyes still swamped by the shadows of exhaustion.

“Hey, Johann. How are you?”

He coughs and it’s a warped sort of noise, but then he offers a tired grin as he shakes his head. “Sorry. I feel much better than I did yesterday. A couch isn’t the most comfortable place to sleep, but I’ve slept on one often enough, so…”

“Did you have any odd dreams?”

He leans back, looking toward the ceiling of the RV. “It was all just white noise and fog, if I’m being honest. It was like I was nowhere that actually existed. Kinda nice, if I’m being honest.”

“I’m glad.” Lucretia taps the keys of her laptop without actually hitting them, just listening to the soft clicks of her fingers hitting each letter. When she looks up at Johann he’s already staring back at her, one brow raised as he just… stares. “Yes?”

“Do you remember what happened at the hospital?”

“What… What do you mean?” Lucretia frowns, briefly looking out of the window and into the expanse of trees that surround the Starblaster. “We got you checked out of the hospital, and then…” Her vision goes sideways, blurring at the edges. The trees sprout from the sky and birds look like they’re falling as they flutter past. Lucretia immediately closes her eyes and swivels back to face Johann. “And then we came here.”

“Yeah?” He shrugs, picking up a random book from the table and casually flipping through the pages. “I don’t think it’s that easy, Lucretia.”

“I don’t understand.”

“Neither do I. But if you guys are the birds…” He closes the books and leans forward, gesturing with one hand toward Lucretia’s laptop. When he speaks his words jump around like they’re a physical presence bouncing through the room, but she still hears him. “I think you know who you are.”

And then he’s getting up from the table, pushing his hair back from his face and slowly making his way out of the RV. Lucretia looks at the open document on her laptop, the one detailing the adventures of The Cryptid Zone.

“Oh,” she says, but it’s more of a sigh.

**…**

 

Lup stretches her arms out above her head before turning to Avi. “So you wanna know the layout of our crew?” Avi nods and Lup leans forward so that her elbows are on her knees. She throws her head in the direction of Magnus and Barry, who are chatting on the other side of the fire. “That’s Magnus Burnsides, your  _ boyfriend _ \--” Avi scrunches up his nose as she giggles. “--and Barry Bluejeans. Not his real last name, but you’d never guess it.”

“What is his last name?”

“Hallwinter.” She laughs, shaking her head. “Yeah, it’s some ostentatious family name, but some frat buddies of his gave him the Bluejeans nickname and he’s kept it. Anyway--” She throws one hand toward the RV. “Lucretia’s the mom friend. We’re like… only a couple months apart in age? But she’s definitely more mature than eighty percent of us idiots. Magnus has been a friend of hers since they were in high school-- he didn’t attend IPRE with us, but he’s smart enough to have gone there.”

“Why didn’t he?” Angus adjusts his glasses, looking up at the big man with the sunshine bright grin. He flings his hands out to emphasize his point, narrowly missing knocking Barry’s glasses clean off of his face.

“Eh, his father-in-law was getting sick so Magnus decided to forgo the IPRE admission to stay and help him. Steven, the father-in-law, he’s much better off now, which is why Magnus was okay with tagging along.” Lup smiles, and it’s the sort of affectionate smile she seems to only save for the members of the IPRE cryptid hunters. A smile that means  _ family _ .

With a secret smile of his own, Avi points toward the two older men standing by the front of the RV and gesturing at each other over a map that they’re both holding. The one with the redder hair rolls his eyes, but there’s a small grin beneath his mustache, while the other man shakes his head and jabs one finger at a place on the map.

“Oh, those are the dads, Davenport and Merle Highchurch.”

“The… The dads?”

Lup nods. “Yep. The oldest of our crew, and also they’re basically married. You’ll never hear either of them admit to it, though. Dunno why.”

“Maybe it’s not true?”

“Oh, no, it totally is. They’ve got matching rings and everything.”

Avi laughs, then strains his eyes to try to make out the rings. It takes a second with all of their movement, but then he sees them: thick silver bands, engraved with deep spirals. “What’s on the rings?”

“Vines, leaves. I swiped Merle’s ring once when he was taking a shower and there’s some sappy shit written on the inside.”

“What did it say?”

Lup opens her mouth, but before she can say those secret, hidden words, Davenport and Merle are both standing beside her, and Avi has to hold back his laughter as Davenport lays a hand on Lup’s shoulder and she immediately presses her lips together.

“What were you talking about, Lup?”

With a bug-eyed glance in Avi’s direction, Lup immediately slips on a suave grin, leaning back in her lawn chair and giving the men her best look of innocence. “Just how fantastic the two of you are in keeping us in our place.”

“Hm.” Davenport lets go of her shoulder with an affectionate shove, turning to take the map that Merle holds out to him. “Now, can you please tell Merle that we’re too far from the beach?”

“Except we’re  _ not _ ,” Merle counters, thrusting the map toward Lup and Avi. “It’s maybe two hours away.”

Before Lup can reply, Avi leans forward and points to where Rockport is on the map. “Actually, we’re less than an hour from the beach. If you make a shortcut through a bunch of back roads over here--” he draws a tiny circle with his index finger. “--then it wouldn’t take very long to get there.”

“Ha!” Merle hits Davenport’s shoulder with one hand, a roar of a laugh filling the air between the four of them. “Beach trip!”

“We’re dealing with serious issues right now, Merle,” Davenport says quietly, but even Avi can tell his resolve is melting. Especially when Merle drops his hand, face morphing into an elderly version of a puppy dog pout. Davenport scowls as he looks away, but then he’s nodding. “We can go for a day before visiting Legato. Avi, would you and Johann like to join us?”

“I-- I mean, sure! Yeah.”

Lup pats his shoulder, shaking her head. “You really dug Cap’n’port’s grave, kid.”

**…**

 

A discordant laugh, splintering glass echoing through caves, like veins, like the stuttering thump of a massive beasts heartbeat. A fracture spreads and grows, festers like a wound, until a mirror lays shattered across the floor of a deep and mystical cavern, and from the shards comes a hand. It grasps once at the air before finding purchase in the ground, and slowly a body is dragged from the glittering mess of glass and ink

A body that  _ grins _ , eyes blinking to life. So many eyes, grotesquely magnificent, a face that is both handsome and eldritch.

The face of a man who was once named John, and now bears no name.

A face that is so, so very hungry.

**Author's Note:**

> please feel free to find me @bureau-of-benevolence on tumblr or @noctiilucent on twitter to tell me what y'all think!!!


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